NNPC declares state of emergency on crude oil production

 



Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, has declared a state of
emergency on crude oil production.



 



Kyari spoke on Tuesday in a keynote address at the opening
ceremony of the 23rd edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and
Exhibition (NOG Energy Week) in Abuja.



 



He said war has been declared on the challenges affecting
Nigeria’s crude oil production.



 



“We have decided to stop the debate. We have declared war on
the challenges affecting our crude oil production,” Kyari said.



 





 “War means war. We
have the right tools. We know what to fight. We know what we have to do at the
level of assets. We have engaged our partners. And we will work together to
improve the situation.”



 



He said a detailed asset analysis showed Nigeria could
easily produce two million barrels of crude oil per day without deploying new
rigs, but the primary obstacle is the inability of industry players to act
promptly.



 



Kyari said the war will enable NNPC and its partners to
swiftly remove all identified obstacles to efficient production, including
delays in procurement processes, which have become a challenge in the industry.



 



Regarding medium to long-term measures to boost and sustain
production, Kyari said NNPC will replace all the old crude oil pipelines built
over four decades ago.



 



He said the corporation will also introduce a rig-sharing
programme with its partners to ensure that production rigs stay in the country
for between four and five years which is the standard practice in most climes.



 



The NNPC GCEO called on all players in the industry to
collaborate towards reducing the cost of production and boosting production to
target levels.



 



Kyari expressed the company’s commitment to investing in
critical midstream gas infrastructure such as the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) and
the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipelines to boost domestic gas production and
supply for power generation, industrial development and economic prosperity of
the country.



 



He said NNPC has since keyed into the presidential
compressed natural gas (CNG) drive, and, in collaboration with partners like
NIPCO Gas, has constructed several CNG stations.



 



Kyari added that 12 of these stations will be inaugurated on
Thursday in Lagos and Abuja.