–Production falls 10%

–NNPC distributes 514ml of petrol

By Obas Esiedesa

Nigeria has again failed to meet the 1.8 million barrels per day oil production quota set by Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), clocking just 1.258m/d production in February, 2022.

Monthly Oil Market Report released by OPEC yesterday showed that Nigeria’s oil production last month fell by 10.07 percent from the 1.399 million barrels per day production level it recorded in January.

Condensate oil production is not part of data reported to OPEC.

The Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva had last week blamed lack of investment by International Oil Companies (IOCs) for the country’s inability to meet its OPEC quota.

• READ ALSO: Why Nigeria can’t meet OPEC’s 1.8mb/d oil production quota ― FG

Chief Sylva said the speed with which international oil companies and other investors were withdrawing investments in hydrocarbon exploitation has contributed significantly to Nigeria’s inability to meet OPEC target.

He said: “The rate at which investments was taken away was too fast. Lack of investment in the oil and gas sector contributed to Nigeria’s inability to meet OPEC quota. We are not able to get the needed investments to develop the sector and that affected us”. 

He also cited security challenges as another major factor that contributed to the lack of significant growth of the sector in the country adding that the drive towards renewable energy by climate enthusiasts has discouraged funding for the sector.

Sylva, however, called for a change of attitude, stressing that in decades to come hydrocarbon will continue to play a central role in meeting the energy needs of the world.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has reported that about 514 million litres of petrol was evacuated from various depots in the past weeks as effort to clear queues from filling stations continued.

The evacuation level amounted to 73.53 million litres per day down by 4.38 percent from 76.9 million litres per day evacuated two weeks ago.