By Adedapo Adesanya
The Joint Task Force South-South, Operation Delta Safe (OPDS), has reiterated that it would ensure that Nigeria, Africa’s largest crude oil producer, meets the national target of 2.2 million barrels per day.
The unit, has, therefore, called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to play their parts in increasing production from the current 1.3 million barrels per day due to oil theft, vandalism, and underinvestment.
The Coordinator of the OPDS Joint Media Campaign Centre, Major Kayode Owolabi, said on Sunday that the team would everything possible to carry out the directive of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa on July 17, 2024, to end crude oil theft.
While giving progress reports on crude oil production and security in the Niger Delta, he noted that the OPDS Commander, Rear Admiral John Okeke, has since implemented several key measures, which had cumulated in the terminal factors on major pipelines—Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), Trans Escravos Pipeline (TEP), and Trans Ramos Pipeline (TRP)— to attain a 100 per cent flow, with daily crude oil output reaching approximately 1.7 million barrels per day
This he said indicated that IOCs are currently operating at full capacity, although he admitted that there have been some incidents of vandalism.
Following the above premise, Mr Okeke urged local and international oil companies to ramp up production and fully utilise pipeline capacity.
“If pipelines are already at full capacity, the NNPCL must evaluate the nation’s capability to produce 2.2 million million barrels per day, with long-term efforts focusing on enhancing production capacity.
Earlier, President Bola Tinubu in a live broadcast on Sunday, said the country’s once-declining oil and gas industry is experiencing a resurgence on the back of the economic reforms he announced in May 2024.
“Last month, we increased our oil production to 1.61 million barrels per day, and our gas assets are receiving the attention they deserve,” he said.
