The Group CEO of NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari, has urged the military to sustain the war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism as production improved by 2.23 percent to hit 1.533 million barrels per day in July 2024.

A statement by NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Mr Olufemi Soneye said Kyari who spoke when he received the Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, Tuesday, disclosed that the current onslaught against the oil theft has yielded improved growth in the nation’s crude oil production.

The latest oil production data released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NUPRC, Tuesay, showed that liquid crude oil production grew from 1.276 million barrels per day in June to 1.306 million barrels per day in July, while condensate oil production also improved from 224,040 barrels per day in June to 227,041 barrels per day in July.

Kyari said improving oil production was important to the country’s economic well being.

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He said: “I personally call for enhanced and sustained security engagement. This is because we have reached a new peak in production that we haven’t seen in the last three years. This is clearly related to the sustained efforts by the armed forces and other security agencies to protect our critical assets, particularly the pipeline infrastructure in specified areas where we are working closely with these agencies. We are already seeing the results transforming into increased production”.

He commended General Musa and his team for their unwavering commitment to securing the nation’s critical hydrocarbon assets especially in the Niger Delta region in recent months, and emphasized that “these achievements are not only crucial to Nigeria but also to the global energy community”.

Kyari expressed confidence that the CDS and his team will deliver on the Presidential mandate to mitigate security-related challenges affecting the nation’s crude oil production.

“Components of this effort that depend on security are being effectively managed by you. Your coordinated and focused response is paving the way for improved security engagement, particularly in the Niger Delta,” he said.

Earlier in his remarks, General Musa said the visit was intended to introduce the Monitoring Team to the NNPC Ltd, which will be responsible for interfacing with the Company and other stakeholders in the oil-producing regions to secure the nation’s critical hydrocarbon infrastructure.

While pledging commitment towards improving security and the performance of his troops, the CDS said the military will sustain the onslaught and analyse the troops’ capabilities to enhance their performance and bolster productivity.

He stressed the need to ramp up production for a prosperous economy and reassured collaboration with intelligence agencies, private security, state governments and host communities for enhanced performance.

“Working in silos won’t give us the best results. I want to assure you that we will collaborate with the necessary stakeholders to achieve our set targets as mandated by Mr. President.”