The Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Limited, Bayo Ojulari, said the company has completed the main line to the Ajaokuta-Kano-Kaduna (AKK) gas pipeline. Ojulari disclosed this Sunday after meeting with President Bola Tinubu in Lagos.
He said: “You remember sometime in summer; we were able to cross the River Niger which has been a struggle for many years. By completing this main line, what that means is that we can begin to make all the connections to the main line, which we will do in the earlier parts of next year.
“And why that is very important is that that brings gas in its full form into the northern part of Nigeria. We’re looking at Kaduna, Kano, and also of course, Ajaokuta, and Abuja where we begin to see industrialisation, industrial parks taking gas for gas-based industry, fertilizer plants, as well as generating power.”
He said: “You’ve seen our production this year. Last year we were about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd). This year we’re getting to about over 1.7 million bpd in terms of oil production. The same thing, our gas production has also increased from about 6.5 billion standard cubic feet to about over 7 billion standard cubic feet per day. So, I think some of those are underpinned by very structural changes within the organisation.”
“When we say increasing production, it sounds simple but there’s a lot that goes into it. It means attracting the right investment to increase production, whether it’s oil or gas. And next year, we’re hoping to achieve at least 1.8 million barrels per day again, stepping up from where we are this year in terms of oil production as well as further increase in terms of gas production.”
He also said: “We’re expecting more investment decisions to come through next year. Next year also, we’re looking at our portfolio as well, to rationalise our portfolio.
This is to ensure that we can do that in a way that we attract more investment for incremental production as well as more investment to develop all the fields that have been fallow for a very long time.”