Budget: How NNPC will meet 2.3m barrels daily crude oil target

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Wednesday it would achieve the 2.3 million barrels per day production target in the 2019 budget by sustaining the improved security in the oil-producing areas.

The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Maikanti Baru, stated this at the presentation of the 2019 -2021 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to the Senate Committee on Finance.

Mr Baru said with improved security in oil bearing communities as a result of sustainable community partnership; the NNPC was confident the oil industry would attain the production target in the 2019 budget.

The official was represented at the event by Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy of the corporation, Bala Wunti.

Although he said the country had achieved a production capacity of over 2.5 million barrels per day, ”it was unfortunate the security situations of the past in areas of operation made it difficult to achieve desired production targets”.

“Thankfully, the current administration under President Muhammadu Buhari is strongly focused on engagement and sustainable community partnership which has resulted in improved security and production. This will further improve. We are therefore confident of achieving the 2019 budget production target,” he said.

On the possible impact of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) quota decision on Nigeria’s production target, the NNPC GMD said the production target of 2.3 million barrels per day was a combination of liquid hydrocarbon production, comprising crude oil and condensate.

With Nigeria’s condensate production currently oscillating between 400,000 and 600,000 barrels per day, he said the country was in a good position to attain the overall production benchmark of 2.3 million barrels per day.

Mr Baru said the corporation was working assiduously with other relevant agencies in the industry to ensure the attainment of the 2019 budget assumptions contained in the 2019 – 2021 MTEF/FSP.

According to the GMD, the NNPC’s mandate on the MTEF was on the key thematic indicators of oil production volume, crude oil price and unit crude oil production cost.

Nigeria’s crude oil grade, he said, traded higher than dated Brent. He attributed the development to the recent reforms in the crude oil management regime with emphasis on entrenching pricing transparency and performance.

He reiterated NNPC’s commitment to transparency and efficiency in every aspect of its operations.

To further deepen the culture of pricing transparency in the corporation, the GMD said a pricing review committee meets monthly to review crude and products pricing by the market dynamics.