IPPG and OPTS Collaborate with NASS to Tackle Nigeria’s Oil Production Challenges
In the past six months, oil output in Nigeria has varied between 1 million and 1.2 million barrels per day. This development was solidified during a capacity-building workshop organized for members of the National Assembly by two operator groups in the country’s upstream sector.
The collaborative effort aims to address challenges such as crude oil theft, enhance security in the Niger Delta region, and tackle other issues affecting Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. Senate President Godswill Akpabio, represented by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Upstream Petroleum Etang Williams, affirmed lawmakers’ dedication to addressing sector challenges.
Akpabio highlighted the importance of increasing the nation’s daily oil production to 1.8 million barrels, acknowledging recent progress in reaching 1.35 million barrels per day, the highest figure since the beginning of the year.
Chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS), Rick Kennedy, emphasized the significance of information and knowledge sharing to facilitate informed decision-making and promote collaboration with the National Assembly.
He said, “Our goal is to make Nigeria the destination of choice once again for investors in the oil and gas sector. The OPTS and IPPG are willing to work with the National Assembly to realize this dream”.
Additionally, Abdulrazaq Isa, Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), addressed ongoing challenges in the sector. He pointed out persistent issues such as investor uncertainty, the global energy transition, and insecurity in the Niger Delta region. These challenges underscore the complexity and multifaceted nature of the issues facing the oil and gas industry in Nigeria.
Abdulrazaq Isa stressed the urgent necessity to increase oil and gas production as a means to enhance the nation’s revenue and attain macroeconomic stability. This underlines the critical role that the oil and gas sector plays in Nigeria’s economic well-being and underscores the urgency to address challenges to ensure sustained growth and stability.
Isa outlined several key priorities, including amending critical aspects of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to establish a robust regulatory framework. Additionally, he emphasized the need to enhance industry competitiveness to attract funding, improve security in the Niger Delta region, and develop value-creating midstream and downstream sectors.
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These initiatives are aimed at boosting the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and fostering job creation within the oil and gas sector.
“To enhance the competitiveness of the industry to attract the level of funding required to fully optimize our vast hydrocarbon resources for today and future generations, there is a need to enhance security across the Niger Delta to safeguard and build a conducive operating environment to stem crude theft and sustainably address the unprecedented production decline witnessed in recent years” he added.
