Malam Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited,says its target was to increase production and bring back domestic refining capacity to ensure energy security.
He spoke at the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria (NAEC) Strategic International Conference with the theme, ” Energy Transition: “Shaping the Future of Nigeria’s Energy Industry, an Appraisal of PIA, Evolving Benefits and Challenges.”
He lamented that the development is being constrained by insecurity in the Niger Delta
He expressed that resolving the security challenge in the Niger Delta will bring back investments to the oil and gas sector.
NNPC,he hinted was working with security agencies and other stakeholders to address the issue of oil theft which was hindering Nigeria’s ability to meet its Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota.
He added: “As you are all aware, we’re doing everything possible to contain it. Security is a major challenge regarding crude oil theft.Yes, we understand today that our production is very low for two reasons. One, because of the security situation in the Niger Delta assets.
“But more than anything, it cannot stop us from investing in the assets and therefore you can’t have decline. Also, you’re unable to put money into it and expect to have high production.
“Resolving the security challenge will surely bring back investment and will also optimise the current availability or capacity that we haveWe know that with certainty that we will resolve the security issue and we can easily come to 2.1 million barrels of oil per day,” Kyari said.
According to him, the government was investing in infrastructure to drive the energy transition, collaborate with security agencies engage the investment community to secure financing.
Financing was a huge challenge for the oil and gas sector, he said,adding that many institutions now recognised gas a clean energy and were willing to invest in development of Nigeria’s abundant gas resources.
He stated that NNPC had successfully resolved the disputes it had with IOCs, relating to upstream assets to further drive investments in the sector.
Kyari said: “We have signed off the Dispute Settlement Agreement with our partners in the last two to three weeks, completely.We have met the terms and conditions required by Petroleum Industry Act and also engaged our partners to have a win-win situation where all of us have given up on something.However, in the long term, we have gotten an opportunity for us to have investment in this sector.”
