By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s current crude oil production has reached 2.35 million barrels per day (bpd), Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Maikanti Baru, has revealed.
Speaking on Monday in Abuja at the inauguration of the members of the agency’s re-constituted anti-corruption committee, Mr Baru noted that this amount comprises condensates, which accounts for about 400,000 barrels per day.
According to the NNPC boss, this was made possible with the moves by the Federal Government to ensure peace in the oil-abundant Niger Delta region of the country.
Nigeria, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), agreed to cap its production at 1.8 million bpd.
Speaking at the inauguration yesterday, Mr Baru said, “In the upstream, we have also been making strides in the stability and security in the Niger-Delta and production is coming back steadily.
“At one point, we have reached the level of almost 2.35 million barrels per day, including condensates, which accounts for about 400,000 barrels per day.”
Furthermore, he thanked “each member of staff and our clients involved in the supplies of petroleum products and other services in the country, for sustaining the supply of petroleum products across the country; the status quo has been restored.”
According to him, “We are in the period of ease, it is not too long ago in December, January and February, when NNPC was a sole importer of petroleum products in this country with the challenges associated with distribution and the caped price of N145 to a litre of petrol.”
he said, “We got some ease when the international price went down and the importers decided to come back to import because they can make some margin; they have raised the importation level to about 30 per.“
