Nigeria’s Defense Minister, Bello Matawalle, has said the country’s crude oil production will reach 1.9 million barrels per day by December 2023.
Metawalle disclosed this on Sunday during an Interview with NAN.
He said the Federal Government is committed to the fight against crude oil theft to boost oil production.
He stated further that as a result of the efforts by the government, crude oil theft is less active than it used to be.
“Before now, due to oil theft activities in the Niger Delta region, oil production dropped to about one million barrels per day. But production has increased with the Federal Government’s actions and the onslaught of the combined military against oil thieves.
“We are hoping that at the end of this year, we will reach about 1.9 million barrels per day. We are taking serious action; operations have been conducted in that area.
“Most of the illegal panels were destroyed, most of the people were arrested, and we are okay with the level we are today. We work together by sharing intelligence; we shall continue working together,” he said.
Newspot reports that the data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) shows that the country’s crude oil production in October was 1.5 million barrels per day.
The development comes as Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) data on oil theft activities showed that on October 28 and November 3, the country recorded 227 cases of crude oil theft.
