The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has countered the position of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on the volume of crude oil produced by the country.
According to the state oil company, Nigeria’s oil production has reached 1.8 million barrels per day (mbpd).
OPEC, in its latest Monthly Oil Market Report, noted that Nigeria’s average daily crude oil production, excluding condensates, increased marginally to 1.33 million bpd in October.
However, Lawal Musa, NNPC chief production war room officer, told journalists during a briefing on the national oil company’s production on Thursday that the country’s production has reached 1.8mbpd.
Musa, who doubles as a Senior Business Advisor to Mele Kyari, NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), said the increased oil production followed the continuous dislodgement of pipeline vandals and crude oil thieves.
He said: “Today, the entire industry is very proud; we are grateful to have crossed the 1.8 million barrels per day mark. This is a significant milestone. For a long time, we have not been able to achieve this. Concurrently, we have also surpassed 7.4 BCF of gas. This is a monumental achievement.
“We are proud that, even before the end of the year, as early as August, we crossed that mark. We are confident that with this same momentum and active collaboration, especially on the security front, we will see clear interventions, faster recovery, and better delivery to the market, which will help us reach 2 million barrels per day before the end of the year.
“We achieved this because of the clear mandate by President Bola Tinubu to ramp up crude oil production in the country.”