Federal Government has raised production benchmark for crude from 1.8 million barrels per day to 3 million barrel for 2025 to boost the national economy. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said this in Port Harcourt, during the flag off ceremony of Operation Delta Sanity Two, at the Nigerian Navy Ship PATHFINDER base. Lokpobiri said, “When I became minister, we were doing barely a million barrels per day but today we are doing 1.8 million barrels per day and our target is to do at least 3 million barrels by this same time in 2025. But sometime last year the Chief of the Naval Staff invited me to be part of the launch of Operation DELTA SANITY which took place in Delta State and today we are doing it here.
“I am particularly happy about this one because this is where we have the most fundamental problem. This Trans-Niger Pipeline is where we have most of the illegal infractions that we have as far as crude oil theft, Pipeline vandalism is concerned. I believe that with this development we will be able to address that problem and that will automatically lead to increase in the number of barrels that we produce and that means more money to enable fund our budget, more money for states, Federal government and Local Governments, more money for the government of President Tinubu to be able to finance the critical infrastructures that we need in our country.” Lokpobiri equally sought the collaboration of all Stakeholders in the fight against illegal oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region.
“So this is very fundamental. For we to guide this region enough, the Navy needs the support of other security agencies, including the civilian security and contractors.
We also need the collaboration of traditional rulers, youth groups, we need all hands of critical stakeholders to support the Nigerian Navy and the Armed Forces to be able to achieve that for the benefit of all of us.” Affirming the possibility of achieving the new target in record time, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, said the Navy would be deploying armed drones to tackle crude oil thieves and other economic saboteurs. He said with the drones the military would be able to access difficult terrains in the Niger Delta where illegal oil bunkering are perpetrated. “I see the target of 3 million barrels by this next year. It is a reality because the task that the President himself has directed us to make sure we achieve. And if you look at where we were last year, when we launched this operation, we were about 1.4 million barrels, we have gone to 1.8 million. I believe that with all the assets that we are bring on board, particularly our new assets, armed drones, attack helicopters and different other assets that we are bringing on board, including increased intelligence sharing with other agencies we are definitely going to even that target and surpass it. Because it is just a task that we are all committed to.
“In the aspect of our personnel I am going to talk to them right away when I leave here and I will be very sure that many of them are going to work in tandem with our objective of trying to collaborate with other agencies to ensure maximum output.” Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Naval Command, Rear Admiral, Saheed Adeshina Akinwande, who reeled out the numerous achievements of operation Delta Sanity since it’s launch on January 10, 2024, emphasised that numerous vessels and suspects involved in oil theft were arrested. “It is worthy of note that since the launch of Operation DELTA SANITY, the operation recorded several successes which led to the arrests of numerous vessels and suspects involved in oil theft. It also led to the identification and deactivation of several illegal refining sites. These successes led to significant improvements in legitimate activities in the maritime environment and increased Nigeria’s daily crude oil production, as several oil companies reported 100 per cent terminal factor.
Rear Admiral, Akinwande, noted that the improvement of the operation became necessary following the successes of the earlier edition. “This is because a whole-of-society approach is required to fight maritime crimes, especially oil theft for increased oil production in Nigeria. Notwithstanding the successes recorded, the Nigerian Navy intends to rejig the operation DELTA SANITY towards achieving better results. Rejigging the operation will involve improved deployment of Maritime Domain Awareness infrastructure, increased aerial surveillance using our newly acquired air assets and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles as well as increased intelligence gathering for enhanced situational awareness and efficient maritime security operations.”
