By Adewale Sanyaolu

Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc has announced the attainment of 20 million barrels of oil production from its Ogbele marginal oil field in Rivers State.

Its Chairman, Mr. Ladi Jadesimi, disclosed this at the company’s 26th Annual General meeting (AGM)  in Lagos last week.

Highlighting the company’s operations for the year under review (2020) and the 15th anniversary of first oil production from its Ogbele marginal oil field, Jadesimi added that the filed had also produced 95 billion standard cubic feet ( bscf) of gas and over 160 million litres of diesel as at 2020 year-end.

He equally announced DPR’s approval for the introduction of hydrocarbon to the train of its Ogbele Refinery which he said would make the full-fledged refinery “the first of such privately owned and operated in Nigeria.”

The chairman announced shareholders approval of a dividend per share of N7, making it the 15th year of consistent dividend payment.

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Jadesimi, in his statement, said though the dividend of N7 was  significantly lower than its record N17 per share for the preceding year, it was a prudent approach based on the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic, and reflected NDEP’s solid fundamentals and commitment to its growth strategy and cash preservation.

He said that despite the effect of the pandemic on business operations in 2020, NDEP “demonstrated its resilience by meeting all its obligations, attaining new milestones and ended the year in profit albeit modestly with staff strength intact”.

“We rose to the challenges posed by COVID-19 and the prolonged lockdown. The board and management carefully monitored industry developments and took steps to reposition NDEP and its subsidiaries while sustaining efficiency and ensuring company survival.

With a profit after tax of N1.6 billion for the company and N16.8 billion for the Group, he added that NDEP entered 2021 “on a solid financial foundation”.

He also announced the appointments of Mr. ‘Gbite Falade and Mr. Adegbola Adesina as the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer of the company respectively and thanked the pioneer Managing Director/CEO, Dr. ‘Layi Fatona, for coming out of retirement to hold fort until Falade’s appointment. Both appointments were ratified by the Shareholders at the AGM.