Nigeria’s minister of petroleum resources, Dr Rilwan Lukman has confirmed that the nation’s potential daily production of crude oil is about 3million barrel per day (3mbpd).
Acknowledging that current unrests in the oil-rich Niger Delta region has adversely affected the nation’s daily crude oil production, the minister told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the recent 153rd extra-ordinary meeting of OPEC in Vienna that there was no cause for worry.
“ We have lost about half of our potential production figure not only due to the damages and militancy in the Niger Delta, but also to operational reasons. “At the moment, our potential production capacity is about three million barrels per day and we are doing about 1.7 million barrels, which is our current quota”, he affirmed, but that a lot of our new production is coming from condensate, which is not part of the quota because of the way the quota is defined.
“If you add those together, our total production, including condensate natural gas liquids is about two million bpd.”
“ We have lost about half of our potential production figure not only due to the damages and militancy in the Niger Delta, but also to operational reasons. “At the moment, our potential production capacity is about three million barrels per day and we are doing about 1.7 million barrels, which is our current quota”, he affirmed, but that a lot of our new production is coming from condensate, which is not part of the quota because of the way the quota is defined.
“If you add those together, our total production, including condensate natural gas liquids is about two million bpd.”
The minister’s comment is coming on the heels of speculations that Nigeria is fast losing her position among OPEC members on account of dwindling production.
He however admitted that with less militancy, Nigeria’s production would rise again. “Obviously, if there is less militancy and attack on production facilities, we should be in a better position to produce more”. “These have indeed affected our production capacity, but for a long term, not immediate. For some time, we have not been able to produce at our full potential because of the challenging situation we have in the Niger Delta.
“Our hope is that sooner than later, the situation will normalise and the market will be able to support higher production.
“We should be able to produce more. Right now, everybody is restraining himself”, he stressed.
“Our hope is that sooner than later, the situation will normalise and the market will be able to support higher production.
“We should be able to produce more. Right now, everybody is restraining himself.areas where oil production has been compromised.
“Our ultimate target is to have the credibility of producing four million bpd. We will not do that today or tomorrow. We should be ready to produce more if the market calls for more.
“If we wait until the market is better to establish capacity, it will be too late because nobody will wait for you to ramp up your capacity.”
“Our hope is that sooner than later, the situation will normalise and the market will be able to support higher production.
“We should be able to produce more. Right now, everybody is restraining himself”, he stressed.
“Our hope is that sooner than later, the situation will normalise and the market will be able to support higher production.
“We should be able to produce more. Right now, everybody is restraining himself.areas where oil production has been compromised.
“Our ultimate target is to have the credibility of producing four million bpd. We will not do that today or tomorrow. We should be ready to produce more if the market calls for more.
“If we wait until the market is better to establish capacity, it will be too late because nobody will wait for you to ramp up your capacity.”
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