FG to Boost Crude Oil Production in Two Weeks – Newstrends
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FG to Boost Crude Oil Production in Two Weeks

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3 years ago

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Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed

– Says shocks in oil market difficult to manage  *Attributes high cost of fertiliser to scarcity of potassium

The federal government will boost crude oil production through the reactivation of oil wells that were shut down due to massive oil theft, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has said.
Speaking with Bloomberg Television in an interview monitored by THISDAY, Ahmed, also attributed the rising prices of fertiliser to the scarcity of potassium, an important ingredient in the manufacturing of the product.
She, however, stressed that the government was doing everything possible to ameliorate the impact.
Ahmed stated that the commencement of operations in the reopened oil assets would help ramp up daily crude production closer to the quota allocated to Nigeria by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in the next two weeks.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, Ahmed noted, has also in recent weeks increased the deployment of security personnel in many of the oil assets to protect them, as well as hobbling the activities of oil thieves.
“We are very hopeful that we will be able to reach our OPEC quota of 1.6 million (1.735 million) barrels per day by the next couple of days or one or two weeks,” Ahmed said.
Nigeria has for months been struggling to meet its OPEC quota despite rising oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A THISDAY’s analysis recently showed that the country was under-producing to the tune of 400,000 bpd, resulting in the loss of as much as $1.5 billion monthly.

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Crude oil sale is the nation’s biggest foreign-exchange earner. The country’s inability to meet its production targets is an indication that Nigeria, which has also been battling a dollar shortage is losing an opportunity to build its foreign reserves.
“The security authorities have been doing a lot of work and we have seen the production numbers pick up. In the past month, there was a time it was as low as 1.2 million barrels per day. Some of the wells that had to be shut in because of the criminality have now been opened,” Ahmed explained.
Ahmed pointed out that Nigeria had failed to take full advantage of the rising international oil prices because it imports all its petrol products with huge subsidies.
“It’s been one shock after another. It’s been very difficult to manage but the current crude oil prices are supposed to be an opportunity for Nigeria but it’s for us now a mixed bag. Even though we are an oil-producing country, we also import refined petroleum products.
“So as the crude oil prices rise, we are having to pay more for the products that we import and also in-country, we are still supporting petroleum subsidy, so the net effect for us is nil or negative, depending on how the price goes.
“The Ukraine-Russia war is causing another wave of global economic distortion and we are very much affected in the sense that energy prices are high which comes with increasing transportation costs, which is also reflected in the cost of food,” she noted.
According to the minister, as a fertiliser-producing country, it has been tough getting a key ingredient in the production of the agricultural commodity, which has led to skyrocketing prices.
“And also, for Nigeria as a producer of fertiliser, one of the major inputs for fertiliser production, potash, is affected. Now it is scarce and that means that the input is very expensive and we are seeing that reflected in the cost of fertiliser.
“As a government, we are looking at how to mitigate this high cost to support the fertilizer-producing companies so that the price of the commodity is not too out of the reach of the common man who is the farming population,” the minister explained.

THISDAY

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Aviation

Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight 

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5 hours ago

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November 14, 2024

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Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight 

 

An Abuja-Lagos flight was on Thursday aborted following a bird strike on the airplane belonging to Air Peace, forcing the authorities to ground the aircraft.

The bird strike experienced in the early hours reportedly prompted a ramp return to ensure the safety of passengers onboard.

All the passengers quickly disembarked and were calmed down before they were moved into another plane for the one-hour journey.

A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft, or other airborne animal, while the aircraft is in flight, taking off, or landing. And it can be a significant threat to aircraft safety.

Air Peace in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, said the bird strike occurred at 6:30am, and all passengers disembarked normally.

The statement read, “We wish to inform our esteemed passengers that our Abuja- Lagos 06:30 flight experienced a bird strike before take-off, prompting a ramp return as a safety measure. All passengers disembarked normally.

“We have deployed a replacement aircraft for the affected flight in order to minimize disruptions, thus ensuring that passengers continue their journeys promptly.

“We appeal for the understanding of our valued passengers impacted by this development, as well as those on other flights that may experience delays.

“At Air Peace, we are committed to providing safe, comfortable, and reliable air travel for all our passengers.”

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Business

NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

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6 hours ago

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November 14, 2024

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NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and its partners have revved up crude oil and gas production to 1.8million barrels per day (mbpd) and 7.4standard cubic feet per day (scfd).

The company which announced this at a press briefing said the feat was achieved in compliance with the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, congratulated the Production War Room Team that anchored the production recovery process.

“The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are in the short and long terms acceptable to our shareholders based on the mandates that we
have from the President, the Honourable Minister, and the Board,” Kyari explained.

Giving details of the efforts of the Production War Room, the Chief War Room Coordinator and Senior Business Adviser to the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lawal Musa, disclosed that the feat was achieved through the collaborative efforts of Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as government and private security agencies.

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He said the interventions that led to the recovery of production cut across every segment of the production chain with security agencies closely monitoring the pipelines.
He stressed that when the Production War Room team was inaugurated on 25th June 2024, production was at 1.430mbpd, but the team swung into action, culminating into sustaining the production recovery to 1.7mbpd in August and hitting the current 1.808mbpd in November.
“We are confident that with this same momentum and with the active collaboration of all stakeholders, especially on the security front, we can see the possibility of getting to 2mbpd by the end of the year,” he stated.
Also speaking on the development, Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board of Directors, Chief Pius Akinyelure, who also congratulated the team, said he was happy to be part of the production recovery process, adding: “today, I will leave this place with my heart full of joy”.

He charged the Company’s Management to come up with a cashflow projection based on the new production figures to facilitate planning, stressing that he was looking forward to further production increase to 3mbpd.

On his part, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team and pledged the Federal Government’s support for the company to do more.

 

NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production

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FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects

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6 hours ago

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November 14, 2024

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FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects

The Federal Government has secured a loan facility of $134million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to help farmers boost seeds and grain production in the country.

This is contained in a statement issued by Anthonia Eremah, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, on Thursday, in Abuja.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, made his know at the unveiling of the 2024/2025 National Dry Season Farming in Calabar, Cross River State capital.

Kyari explained that with the re-introduction of the national dry season farming to boost year-round agricultural production, the loan would be handy and guarantee national food security in the country.

The minister said the initiative is under the National Agricultural Growth Support Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) Project.

He said the federal government had declared an emergency on food production to enable all Nigerians to get easy access to quality and nutritional food at affordable rates.

Kyari also said government wants to use the agricultural sector for national economic revival through increase in production of some staple food crops such as wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, soybean, and cassava during both dry and wet season farming.

He added that 107,429 wheat farmers were supported under phase 1 of the 2023/2024 dry season, and 43,997 rice farmers under the second phase of the 2023/2024 dry season.

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The minister said recently, government supported 192,095 rice, maize, sorghum/millet, soyabean and cassava farmers under the 2024 wet season across the 37 States including the FCT.

He said Cross River was leading 16 other states in wheat production, adding that over 3000 wheat farmers have been listed to benefit from the support to grow the grain.

Kyari noted the Cross River government’s commitment to wheat production.

He said it informed why the federal government is partnering with the state to kick start the maiden wheat production and enlisting them among states commencing the current 2024/2025 dry season farming.

“The 2024/2025 dry season farming, the project is targeted to support 250,000 wheat farmers across the wheat-producing states with subsidised agricultural inputs.

“This is to cultivate about 250,000 hectares with an expected output of about 750,000 metric tonnes of wheat to be added to the food reserve to reduce dependence on importation of the product and also increase domestic consumption.

“Equally the programme will provide support to 150,000 rice farmers under the second phase to cover all the 37 states, including FCT, with an expected output of about 450,000 metric tonnes,” he said.

 

FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects

(NAN)

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