By Mariam Eko

The Independent Petroleum Producers Group, IPPG, and Oil Producers Trade Section, OPTS, are engaging the National Assembly (NASS) in a bid to stabilize the nation’s oil production.

Nigeria’s oil production stood at 1.35 million barrels per day in October, according to the latest crude oil and condensate production data of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commision, NUPRC. This still falls below the 2023 budget target of 1.69 million bpd and 1.8 million bpd set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Country (OPEC).

Over the past six months, the output had fluctuated between 1 million and 1.2 million barrels per day. This move was sealed at the capacity building workshop organised for members of the National Assembly by the two operator groups in the country’s upstream sector.

The arrangement, according to the groups, is in a renewed effort to combat crude oil theft, enhance security in the Niger Delta region, and tackle other challenges plaguing the country’s oil and gas sector.

Speaking at the event, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, represented by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Upstream Petroleum, Etang Williams, expressed lawmakers’ commitment to addressing sector challenges while lamenting the lack of judicious utilization of oil sector windfalls. Akpabio emphasized the need to increase the nation’s daily oil production to 1.8 million barrels, citing recent progress in reaching 1.35 million barrels per day which has been the highest figure since the year began.

In his remarks, chairman of OPTS, Rick Kennedy, stressed the importance of information and knowledge sharing to facilitate informed decisionmaking and foster 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”.

Also speaking, chairman of IPPG, Abdulrazaq Isa, highlighted the persistent challenges in the sector, including investor uncertainty, global energy transition, and insecurity in the Niger Delta. He emphasized the urgent need to ramp up oil and gas production to bolster the nation’s revenue and achieve macroeconomic stability.