NIGERIA’s target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd) crude oil production target in 2025, is achievable, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobori, has said.
Lokpobori said this on Thursday night in Abuja at the Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Discourse, with theme: “Nigeria’s Oil Production Growth Roadmap Acceleration Imperatives’’ organised by Heirs Energies Limited.
“It is true that the 2025 budget is predicated on 2.06 million barrels a day, and I want to assure Nigerians that this is doable.
“Nigeria has been doing 1.5 million barrels of production per day,” he said, adding that the industry has been able to make additional 250,000 barrels incrementally.
“For now, we are operating at about 1.75 million barrels per day,” he said.
The minister said for over a decade, there has been no investment in the sector, adding that things are now changing for the better.
“We have changed the perception about Nigeria. So, investments are coming in.
“We want to improve the security situation in the Niger Delta. And I want to use the opportunity to thank our military.
“Nigerian military, the paramilitary, and civilian contractors. The combined effort of these stakeholders has led to less infractions in our pipelines, less thefts, less pipeline vandalisation,” he said.
Lokpobori said the Federal Government has also carried out some reforms in the sector.
He said President Bula Tinubu has provided strategic leadership for the oil and gas industry.
“We have taken care of the issue of bureaucracy. Before now, you must know the minister or somebody who knows the minister before your documents are signed.
“Right now, you do not need to know me before your documents are signed.
“Once I get the recommendation from NUPRC, statutorily, no documents stays on my table for more than 24 hours,” he said.
Lokpobiri said the government has also addressed the issue of inefficiency by deploying technology.
“Before now, everything was done manually. We could not monitor real-time, what was happening in our terminals. We could not monitor real-time, when payments will be given.
“Technology has also been deployed to ensure that we reduce the corruption that has existed in that sector in the past,’’ he said.
The Chairman of Heirs Energies Limited, Mr Tony Elumelu, said the oil industry has been able to turn around the season of decline to that of growth.
Elumelu said the country’s increase in crude oil production to 1.7 million barrels per day in January attests to this growth.
He said that with the completion of the major divestments that have just come through, over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s oil production was now operated by indigenous companies.
“For a lot of people, there is trepidation that we can deliver. There is also optimism that we can deliver.
“Heirs Energies has been one of those companies that has stood strongly for growth, as demonstrated by the growth we have achieved in our company by doubling production since inception,’’ he said.
Elumelu said that the leadership discourse was informed by the need to chart a way forward for the company, as well as the country.
“As we embark on our second leadership forum, we bring our entire leadership to discuss the way forward for our company.
“We thought that being a child of the Nigerian petroleum industry, we needed to bring all the parties together to discuss the growth of the industry.
“In that light, we felt it was important to bring together the industries to start talking about the growth.
“Now that it is us, the indigenous companies that are in control of a larger proportion of the production, we have to power it, we have to own the challenge, and we have to deliver to the Nigerian people,’’ Elumelu said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other panellists at the forum included Ademola Adeyemi-Boro, Chairman, OPEC Board of Governors and Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) , Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
Others are Roger Brown, CEO, Seplat Energy PLC, Osa Igiehon, CEO, Heirs Energies Limited.
NAN reports that Nigeria’s oil production, including condensate, rose by four per cent Month-on-Month (MoM) to 1.737 million barrels per day (bpd) in January compared to 1.667 million bpd recorded in December 2024.
On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, output saw a 5.7 per cent increase, reaching 1.737 million bpd in January 2025, compared to 1.643 million bpd in the same period of 2024, according to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
In its latest report on Crude Oil and Condensate Production, the NUPRC stated, “Lowest and peak production in January was 1.66 million bpd and 1.79 million bpd, respectively.
The average crude oil production was 103 per cent of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota (1.5m bpd).
NUPRC said, this indicates that Nigeria successfully met the OPEC production quota of 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd). (NAN)
