The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said the Federal Government will renegotiate the country’s production quota in the ongoing OPEC+ cuts by November.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, during a live interview with Bloomberg, said the country was working towards ramping up crude oil production by about 200, 000 to 300, 000 barrels per day, latest by October, after which it would push for an increased quota at the next OPEC+ meeting in November.
Kyari said, “OPEC understands that it is not that Nigeria does not have what it takes to produce more crude, but the challenge has been in terms of security, and everything we are doing to combat insecurity in the Niger Delta is working.
“OPEC has now given us (Nigeria) a target to increase production between now and October, and that figure is going to be worked with.
“I think it is very practical to get to between 1.5/1.6 by October.”
Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates, was around 1.3 million barrels per day, according to Kyari.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its non-OPEC partner, Russia- also known as the OPEC+ are currently cutting oil exports to boost prices.
The NNPCL boss said the current production is “Nowhere near Nigeria’s capacity. “We have a clear case when during the COVID, we had capacity to do close to 2.1mb/d. So we know we have the capacity.”
“The issues are around the pipeline, and once we are able to resolve the challenges, then, we can produce higher.”
OPEC+ had reduced Nigeria’s quota from 1.742mb/d to about 1.38mb/d in early June due to low production. Kyari said FG was confident it would get an increased quota by November.
He said, “We are more confident to get a new quota than we have at the moment. The country’s target is at the very least, 2mb/d, and when you add that to the condensate production, you would get a higher number, and of course that would also meet the expectation of the country.”
