By Clara Nwachukwu

LAGOS — Conflicting interests and demand on limited resources are part of the reasons Nigeria will not be able to meet production aspirations of four million barrels per day and four billion barrels in reserves by the end of the year.

Speaking with Vanguard on the sidelines of the just concluded 34th Society for Petroleum Engineers, SPE Nigeria Annual International Conference and Exhibition, in Tinapa, Cross River State, Country Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr Mutiu Sunmonu, said there was increasing demand on resources by host communities for development projects in their areas.

He said: “It is not just because companies are divesting from their existing oil and gas assets or not investing as heavily as we should that Nigeria is missing production targets for this year. In fact, if the environment and investment climate is right, we can still meet these targets.

“But there are competing needs and host communities are making all manner of demands on our resources, and these are all factors.”

But responding, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Federal Government’s representative in oil and gas activities in the country and the senior partner in the joint venture operations, said there was no big deal in Nigeria missing the targets projected for the end of this year.

The NNPC also noted that at the time these targets were routed in 2005, “Nobody foresaw there will be a global meltdown leading to serious economic and financial crises.”