Nigeria’s oil production surged to 1.6 million barrels per day, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, falling only a few million barrels short of the 1.8 million barrels per day quota that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had set for Nigeria.
At a gathering of industry stakeholders called to discuss the problems with crude oil theft and losses affecting the oil and gas sector, NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive, Mele Kyari, disclosed this.
He added that the implementation of technology, together with the rectangle security strategy made up of NNPCL and partners, regulators, government security agencies, and host communities, insured the output would increase from its level in July 2022 to the current 1.67 million barrels per day.
A crucial component of the collaboration had been the onboarding of the private security contractors from the host communities, which were hitherto isolated.
According to Kyari, the security contractors’ in-depth knowledge of the terrain and modus operandi of the criminals had led to massive discoveries of illegal connections and interception of vessels ferrying stolen crude oil.