“No disparity,” NUPRC confirms 1.8m bpd NNPC Ltd’s oil production figure at NAPE confab

● “1.54m bpd production figure quoted by THISDAY for October is for September, not October”
● What NUPRC boss told the highest body of petroleum explorationists and stakeholders in Lagos.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) confirmed the 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) production figures earlier released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) at the conference organised by the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) in Lagos.

This newspaper reports the Commission’s boss, Gbenga Komolafe, to have said this to stakeholders.

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He was further reported to have maintained that the development was contrary to a report dojng the rounds that the NUPRC contradicted the NNPC Ltd’s figures.

Speaking at the 42nd Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists Annual International Conference & Exhibition in Lagos, Komolafe said that Nigeria’s crude oil output, including condensate, increased by 16.56 per cent to 1.8 million bpd, in October 2024, from 1.54 million bpd in September 2024.

He said that as a result of this feat, Nigeria had exceeded the 1.5 million bpd quota of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

“This represents an increase of 253,710, bpd to reach 1.8 million bpd in October, up from 1.54 million bpd in September 2024, representing 16.56 per cent month-on-month rise,” he said.

Represented by Enorense Amadasu, Executive Commissioner for Development and Production at NUPRC, the NUPRC boss declared that efforts were underway to further increase oil output to two million bpd by December 2024.

Highlighting the theme of the conference, “Resolving the Nigerian Energy Trilemma: Energy Security, Sustainable Growth and Affordability”, Komolafe said the organization was committed to expanding Nigeria’s oil production capacity.

Checks by this newspaper showed that this is the same position of the NNPC Ltd, which said it and its partners had revved up crude oil and gas production to 1.8 million bpd and 7.4bn standard cubic feet (bscf) per day.

The company announced this at a press briefing, maintaining that the feat was achieved in compliance with the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

This newspaper gathered that these figures were, contrary to misconstrued report, the same with the ones announced by the NUPRC.

● Disparity where there is none

A THISDAY review of the delayed October production figures by the NUPRC, which is the oil and gas sector upstream regulator, claimed that Nigeria produced 1.538 million bpd of crude oil and condensate.

The three-month low production data released by the NUPRC, the report claimed, contradicted the report announced by the national oil company and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources (Oil), which specifically put production at 1.808 million bpd.

● Looking beyond 1.8m bpd

Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, who reiterated that the Company revved up production to 1.8 m bpd, declared the target to increase production to 2m bpd.

Kyari congratulated the Production War Room Team that anchored the production recovery process.

“The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are in the short and long terms acceptable to our shareholders based on the mandates that we have from the President, the Honourable Minister, and the Board,” Kyari explained.

Giving details of the efforts of the Production War Room, the Chief War Room Coordinator, and Senior Business Adviser to the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lawal Musa disclosed that the feat was achieved through the collaborative efforts of Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as government and private security agencies.

He said the interventions led to the recovery of production cut across every segment of the production chain with security agencies closely monitoring the pipelines.

He stressed that when the Production War Room team was inaugurated on the 25th June 2024, production was at 1.430mbpd, but the team swung into action, culminating in it sustaining the production recovery to 1.7mbpd in August and hitting the current 1.808m bpd in November.

“We are confident that with this same momentum and with the active collaboration of all stakeholders, especially on the security front, we can see the possibility of getting to 2m bpd by the end of the year,” he stated.

Also speaking on the development, Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board of Directors, Chief Pius Akinyelure, who also congratulated the team, said he was happy to be part of the production recovery process, adding: “today, I will leave this place with my heart full of joy.”

He charged the Company’s Management to come up with a cash flow projection based on the new production figures to facilitate planning, stressing that he was looking forward to further production increase to 3m bpd.