Former DPR Chief, Osuno Expresses Concern Over Decline in Oil Production
Ben Osuno, a former Director of the defunct Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), expressed concern over the drop in Nigeria’s oil production. Speaking at a colloquium organized in his honor ahead of his 88th birthday, Osuno noted that the country’s crude oil production had declined from 2.4 million barrels per day in the 90s to less than 1.7 million barrels currently.
Osuno highlighted the challenges, including delays caused by the increasing number of regulators in both the downstream and upstream sectors, making the approval process more cumbersome and expensive. Despite having a larger population and more resources, the decline in oil production remains a notable concern for Nigeria’s oil industry.
“Some years ago, we were doing 2.4mbpd, and very few companies were working. No problems. Today, there are many more companies and much more money.
“The control of the industry is too heavy, yet you cannot produce 1mbpd. If you do 1.7mbpd you are happy. And you spend so much money to control that 1.7mbpd. When it was 2.4mbpd, how much was being spent to supervise
“Many things we can do on the phone then are not being done today. Now to do one thing, it costs a lot of money and time, even to get one approval. So much money is being spent on the supervision of the industry. Why can’t it be streamlined so that the amount spent on supervising and regulating is reduced? So that there can be more efficiency in the system,” he said.
Osuno maintained that what two persons could do before, “now you need about 20 to 25 people to do it”.
“These are the issues if we look back into history, how things were done efficiently. Why can’t we be as efficient these days? We have more people, more educated, younger bloods, but why is everything getting more complicated?”
Ben Osuno, a former head of the Exploration and Production Division of the Nigerian National Oil Company/Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and a former governor to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from 1979 to 1990, expressed his concerns about the decline in Nigeria’s oil production. Despite his contributions to the oil sector, Osuno lamented the drop in crude oil production from 2.4 million barrels per day in the 90s to less than 1.7 million barrels currently.
It’s worth noting that OPEC’s Monthly Oil Market Report for January 2024 indicated a slight increase in Nigeria’s crude oil production to 1.418 million barrels per day in December 2023, up from 1.319 million barrels per day in November. The challenges and concerns raised by Osuno highlight the complexities and issues faced by Nigeria’s oil industry.
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In the report released on January 17, OPEC disclosed, according to direct communication, that the nation’s oil production in December stood at 1.335mpbd, as against 1.250mbpd in November.
