By Adewale Sanyaolu
The Federal Government has said that the country has the capacity to produce over 2.3 million barrels of oil per day (bpd) in 2018.
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, disclosed this in Lagos during a presentation of draft proposals for the Medium Term Fiscal Framework/ Fiscal Strategy Paper (2018- 2020) to civil society groups and other stakeholders in the private sector.
He hinged the assurance of the production level of 2.3 million barrels a day projected for 2018 on the premise that government has the technical capacity to produce much more than that.
Udoma, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Mr. Akpandem James, assured that even at 2.3 million bpd, the country would achieve the feat
He explained that the proposals he was presenting for the consideration of the general public were drawn from the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (2017-2020) which is the blueprint guiding all the economic plans of the Government.
The Minister noted that government is aware of the diminishing long term prospects of crude oil, which is why it is important that the country maximize the use and exploitation of its petroleum resources now.
“With the inclusion of our current condensates production of 400,000 to 450,000 barrels a day, we have been able to produce more than two million barrels a day at some periods this year.
However, average production for the year is still about 1,900,000 barrels a day but with the increasing production we should be able to average more than two million barrels by the end of the year.”
On concerns over borrowing and the continued provision for deficit in the budget, the minister explained that the issue is not so much of a debt problem, but much more of a revenue problem.
He argued that even with the current levels of borrowings, the country’s fiscal deficit is still well within the three per cent limit prescribed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
He added that government is continuously monitoring the deficit level to ensure that it remains within the three per cent threshold.