Uche Usim, Abuja
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has released its summarised 2018 operational report indicating the nation’s daily crude oil production recorded an upward swing of about 2.09 million barrels.
The figure represents a 9 per cent increment, compared to the 2017 average daily production of 1.86 million barrels.
According to the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, the feat sprang from new business models put in place by the management. He said the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC),
Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Duke Oil, NIDAS and Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL), were among the re-engineered companies.
Baru added that the NPDC was the major contributor to the industry’s success story in 2018, expressing enthusiasm on the 52 per cent daily crude oil production growth by the company when compared to its 2017 performance.
The NNPC boss further revealed that the average production from NPDC’s operated assets alone grew from an average of 108,000 barrels of oil per day (bod) in 2017 to 165,000bod in 2018, describing the development as the strongest production growth within the oil industry in recent times, even as he added that it was worth being celebrated.
The GMD said NPDC’s equity production share, which stands at 172,000bod, representing about 8 per cent of national daily production, was no less impressive, saying the desired results are outcomes of initiatives his management team emplaced, among which, he noted, are the Asset Management Team (AMT) structure, Strategic Financing, Units Autonomy and security architecture framework.
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Of the industry milestones in the outgone year, Baru described the 200,000bop addition, which the Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO), completed and sailed away to location in August last year, added to the nation’s daily production, even as he disclosed that the project achieved First Oil at 11.20pm on December 29, 2018.
Baru added that $1.7 billion was saved by NNPC, with the corporation’s Joint Venture (JV) partners over a five-year tenor repayment plan, saying already the corporation has defrayed $1.5 billion of the arrears.
He listed the reduction in contracting cycle for upstream operations to nine months from an average of 24 as a major milestone in 2018.
He added that the corporation targets a six months cycle; lowering of production cost from $27/barrel to $22/barrel; and improving on the security situation in the Niger Delta through constructive engagement and dialogue with relevant stakeholders.
Baru revealed that in the frontier basins, NNPC has intensified explorations activities in the Benue Trough, with the expected spudding of Kolmani River Well 2 on 19th January, 2019.
He explained that activities would resume in the Chad Basin as soon as there is a greenlight on the security situation in the enclave.
In the Midstream, the NNPC GMD stated that in 2018, Nigeria achieved an average national daily gas production of 7.90bscf, translating to 3 per cent above the 2017 average daily gas production of 7.67bscf.
He said out of the 7.90bscf produced in 2018, an average of 3.32bscfd (42%) was supplied to the Export market, 2.5bscfd (32%) for Reinjection/Fuel Gas, 1.3bscfd (16%) was supplied to the domestic market and about 783mmscfd (10%) was flared.
The GMD stated that out of the 1.3bscfd supplied to the domestic market, an average of 71mmscfd went to the Power Sector, while 470mmscfd was supplied to the Industries and the balance of 69mmscf delivered to the West African Market through the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP).
Baru said NNPC would bridge the medium-term domestic gas supply deficit by 2020 through the corporation’s Seven Critical Gas Development Projects (&CGDPS), adding that a reputable Project Management consulting firm is collaborating with an NNPC team to achieve accelerated implementation of the projects.
He assured that full implementation of the project would boost domestic gas supply from about 1.5bscf/d to 5bscf/d by 2020, with a corresponding 500 per cent increase in power generation and stimulation of gas-based industrialization.