The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, said it plans to grow its crude oil output to 300,000 barrels per day, bpd, by 2018, from its current equity production of 180,000bpd. According to a statement by the NNPC in Abuja, the NPDC, its exploration and production subsidiary, has also set a production target of 400,000bpd and 500,000bpd of crude for 2019 and 2020 respectively.
In addition, the NPDC said it remained the biggest and largest gas producer in the country and was also the highest supplier of gas to the domestic market. Managing Director of the NPDC, Mr. Yusuf Matashi, disclosed that the planned increase in the company’s equity production was due to the ongoing transformation in NNPC, adding that having attained the position as fifth largest Exploration and Production Oil Producer in the Nigeria, the NPDC was poised to efficiently manage its portfolios to achieve the new target. He applauded the Federal Government, the NNPC Top Management Committee (TMC) and the NNPC management for helping the company take ownership of OML 13, disclosing that First Oil from that OML was expected by the fourth quarter of the year.
He said, “The NPDC has 55 per cent equity in nine blocks of Oil Mining Lease (OML) 4, 26, 30, 34, 38, 40, 41, 42 and 55; Non-equity operations in three blocks of selected NNPC Joint Venture fields; 60 per cent participatory interest in four blocks of OMLs 60, 61, 62 and 63 and 100 per cent ownership of seven blocks of OMLs 11, 13, 64, 65, 66, 111 and 119. “In a nutshell, the company is involved in 29 concessions which comprise 22 OMLs and seven Oil Prospecting leases.” He explained that the company had varied interests in seven deep-water concessions and successfully executed a Global Memorandum of Understanding (GMoU) with communities in OMLs 30 and 34, adding that NPDC achieved a major feat by successfully drilling and completing five horizontal wells in nine months in OML 26, leading to production of an additional 7, 000 bpd.
He noted that the NPDC had successfully turned around OML 40 asset from zero bpd to 12,000 bpd which underlined the company’s rising profile as the seventh largest owner and operator of Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) in Nigeria, with FPSO Mystra having 1.03 million of crude producibility. Matashi declared that the NPDC had also carried out some intervention activities which led to the peak production of approximately 10,000 bpd in OML 65 in June, 2017. Matashi averred that the NPDC aggressive gas pursuit since 2009 had also raised the company’s profile as the highest single supplier of gas to the domestic market with an average of 700 million standard cubic feet per day.
He noted that the Utorogu Non-Associated Gas 11 plant was also completed recently adding 150 mmscfd; the Oredo 2 gas plant also adds 100 mmscfd and the successful re-entry of Odidi which led to an addition of 40 mmscfd of gas indeed represents a major achievement for the company and a step forward to achieving NPDC’s aspiration to become a serious global player in the E&P industry.” He lamented that the greatest challenges of the company were the reoccurring infractions on its facilities and the incessant uprisings by some members of its host communities, adding that a holistic plan was being worked out to address the teething challenges.
Matashi maintained that the NPDC as a responsible and responsive company had awarded scholarship to over 6,000 indigent members of its host communities which traversed host states, renovated and built block of classrooms, provided classroom furniture and offered employment opportunities in its areas of operation as a means of empowering the communities.
