Oil production will hit 2m bpd in December, Kyari assures

• Navy intensifies battle against oil theft, apprehends 35 illegal vessels
• 15 lawmakers call for Kyari’s removal for allegedly undermining Tinubu’s agenda

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has projected an increase in crude oil production to about two million barrels per day by the end of this year.

He said this during a meeting with maritime stakeholders at the Nigerian Navy Headquarters on Tuesday. Kyari expressed optimism that the target would be met through the aggressive efforts being put in place by all stakeholders to tackle crude oil theft.

Represented by the Managing Director of Pipeline NNPCL, Folorunsho Karim, the GCEO urged security agencies to continue their efforts against oil theft and pipeline vandalism to help the company meet its target.

“Pipeline vandalism has decreased significantly. We hope to sustain this progress to achieve our target of two million barrels per day by the end of the year.”

The country’s daily production rose from 1.27m bpd in June to 1.6m bpd in July. President Bola Tinubu had given a mandate to all the stakeholders in the oil and gas sector to stop the activities of crude oil thieves.

In line with that directive, the Defence Headquarters is taking a stringent approach towards ending crude oil theft in the Niger Delta region of the country, and part of such measures is to ensure the transparency of the International Oil Companies (IOC) operating in the region.

The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, who spoke at the event, said the Nigerian Navy arrested over 35 ships involved in illegal oil refining operations in a major crackdown on the illicit activities in the maritime domain, amid complex security challenges Nigeria has faced over recent decades.

This according to him included violent agitations, oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and piracy, adding that these challenges have been exacerbated by factors such as the proliferation of small arms, communal clashes, and socio-economic issues like poverty and unemployment.

Meanwhile, 15 lawmakers, under the aegis of The Economy Rescue Group, have called for the resignation of NNPCL boss, Kyari. The group claims that mismanagement under Kyari’s leadership at the NNPCL is responsible for the challenges faced by President Tinubu’s administration.

In a press statement in Abuja on Tuesday by its leader and a lawmaker representing Oredo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Esosa Iyawe, the group insists that Kyari should be suspended pending the outcome of the House of Representatives’ joint Committee on Petroleum (Downstream and Midstream) forensic investigation into the state of the national oil company and the downstream and midstream sectors as a whole.