The Abia State Government has promised to play a major role in tackling the drop in crude oil production in Nigeria.
The promise was made by Governor Alex Otti on Tuesday at his country home in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South LGA of the state when he received a delegation of the Defence Headquarters Joint Monitoring Team, led by Maj Gen J.A.L. Jimoh, who paid him a working visit.
Otti, who decried the drastic drop in crude oil production in Nigeria, said it formed part of his discussion during his recent visit to the National Security Adviser.
According to the governor, figures available to him for June, July and August put the average oil production level in Nigeria somewhere around 1.4 million barrels per day, which he said was far below Nigeria’s crude oil quota of 2.2 million barrels per day.
The governor, who recalled that 20 years ago, Nigeria’s crude oil production capacity was about 2.5 million barrels per day, said that the drop in the oil production affects exports, which in turn affects foreign exchange earnings.
He identified oil theft and the insurrection in the Niger Delta as among the factors affecting Nigeria’s crude oil production.
Earlier in his speech, the leader of the monitoring team, Maj Gen Jimoh, said that the Joint Monitoring Team was recently constituted to carry out oversight on some of the most pressing challenges faced by the country’s vital crude oil sector.
Maj Gen Jimoh, who said that the visit to Governor Otti was to acknowledge his invaluable support to the initiative, assured him that no effort would be spared to restore optimal operational efficiency within the oil sector.
Other members of the team who joined Maj Gen Jimoh on the visit include Rear Admiral D. Fadeyi, Rear Admiral S.D. Ibrahim, Air Vice Marshal Dari, Brigadier General A. A. Idris, Colonel M.M. Silong, Lieutenant Colonel M.J. Bent, Commissioner of Police Iyama Daniel, and Commandant Muhammed Waska.
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