Indications have emerged that Nigeria may soon retake its position as being Africa’s number one oil producing nation from Angola who displaced it last quarter of 2016.
This is stemming from the fact that the sustained drop in Niger Delta militancy has yielded results in raising oil production output to 2mbpd.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, disclosed this in Abuja, saying the country now produces additional 200,000 bpd of crude oil, up from the 1.8 million bpd recorded in recent times.
Explaining more activities on his ministry before House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) while defending the 2017 budget estimates of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Kachikwu noted that ongoing repairs on oil facilities and negotiations between the Federal Government and militant groups in the Niger Delta region were yielding results.
On the damaged Forcados oil terminal, Kachikwu informed the lawmakers that repair works on the facility were nearing completion.
He stated that in a matter of weeks, the facility could be reopened; a development the minister said would further shoot up oil production to 2.2 million bpd.
“In some weeks, we will be able to progress to 2.2 million bpd, which is the target of the (2017) budget,” he added.
