Oil production now 1.9m barrels daily, says Kachikwu

The country’s crude oil production stands at about 1.9 million barrels per day (bpd), the Minister of Petroleum Resources and immediate past group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, said Friday.
Kachikwu made the comments at a ceremony in Abuja during his handing over to the new Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Kacalla Baru.



The oil production fell from 2.2m bpd early in the year due to a series of attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta.
Oil is the mainstay of the Nigeria’s economy.
In a monitored Channels TV report, Kachikwu said that his administration placed emphasis in the areas of maintaining the deregulation policy, ensuring petroleum product availability and prompt audit of NNPC’s financial report.
The minister advised the new NNPC helmsman to remain apolitical and seek ways to close the developmental gap in the petroleum sector.
He listed some of his achievements in the past 11 months as the group managing director of the NNPC to include the N270m profit made by the corporation.
Kachikwu disclosed that repair of the Forcados crude oil pipeline to the export terminal would be completed by month end.
The pipeline operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) has been under force majeure since February 21, a week after a pipeline leak forced a halt to loading to the export platform.
Baru, in his speech, highlighted his 11-point agenda to include a priority to improve revenue from the oil and gas sector.