From Uche Usim, Abuja
Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Mr Heineken Lokpobiri has said that the federal government was working assiduously to ramp up crude oil production (and condensate) from the current 1.7 million barrels per day (mbpd) to 2 mbpd by December.
Lokpobiri, who made the disclosure at an interface with energy journalists in Abuja on Friday, emphasised that his sole agenda as a Minister in President Tinubu’s cabinet was to ensure crude oil production, being the backbone of the Nigerian economy, remained on a steady climb.
He said festering insecurity in the Niger Delta region has been the greatest obstacle standing against improved oil production, but assured that deepened stakeholder engagement was gradually tackling that challenge.
He said: “My sole agenda is to ensure increased crude oil production and this automatically means more revenue for the government. Once we achieve that, we will be on the road to solving many of our revenue challenges because oil is still a major revenue earner.
“Though the non-oil sector is trying in supporting the economy, oil is still a substantial forex earner and that’s why we must deal with this insecurity challenge. And we are already seeing results. Crude oil production has increased from 1.4mbpd to 1.7mbpd it is today. But our target is 2mmbpd by the end of the year.
On the exodus of international oil companies (IOCs) to more conducive climes, the Minister said the government will leverage the offerings of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to reset the operating environment and unlock more potential that will attract the offshore firms back to Nigeria.
“I’ve engaged the IOCs, independent and local producers; midstream and downstream players, local refiners etc.
“We’ve listened to them and we are willing and able to address the identified challenges.
We’ve been here for less than two months but by year end, there will be a visible difference in performance and productivity.
“There’s no place like Nigeria and I’ve told several IOCs this”, Lokpobiri stated.