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- Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), said Nigeria can achieve a 2.06 million barrels per day crude oil production target in 2025.
- He said inadequate investment in the sector hampered its growth
- Lokpobiri said the Federal Government has carried out some reforms to enhance the operations of the sector
The Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobori, says Nigeria can achieve its target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil production in 2025.
Lokpobori said this at the Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Discourse, with the theme, ‘Nigeria’s Oil Production Growth Roadmap Acceleration Imperatives,’ organised by Heirs Energies Limited, on Thursday, February 20, in Abuja.
He noted that the 2025 budget is based on a 2.06 million bpd target, which is achievable given the recent improvements in oil production.
“The 2025 budget is indeed predicated on 2.06 million barrels a day, and I want to assure Nigerians that this is doable.
“Nigeria has been doing 1.5 million barrels of production per day,” he said, adding that the industry has been able to make an additional 250,000 barrels incrementally.
“For now, we are operating at about 1.75 million barrels per day,” he said.
Inadequate investment hampered the sector’s development
The minister said the insufficient investment in the petroleum sector for over a decade hindered its growth.
He, however, said the tide is turning as the security unrest in the Niger Delta region is been tackled.
Lokpobiri said, “We have changed the perception about Nigeria. So, investments are coming in. We want to improve the security situation in the Niger Delta.
“And I want to use the opportunity to thank our military; the Nigerian military, the paramilitary, and civilian contractors. The combined efforts of these stakeholders have led to fewer infractions in our pipelines, fewer thefts, less pipeline vandalisation.”
FG’s efforts to improve petroleum sector
Lokpobori further said the Federal Government has also carried out some reforms to enhance the operations of the petroleum sector.
He said the administration of President Bola Tinubu has provided leadership for the oil and gas industry, enhanced bureaucratic processes, and deployed technology to address inefficiency.
“We have taken care of the issue of bureaucracy. Before now, you must know the minister or somebody who knows the minister before your documents are signed.
“Right now, you do not need to know me before your documents are signed. Once I get the recommendation from NUPRC, statutorily, no documents stay on my table for more than 24 hours.
“Before now, everything was done manually. We could not monitor in real time what was happening in our terminals. We could not monitor real-time when payments will be given.
“Technology has also been deployed to ensure that we reduce the corruption that has existed in that sector in the past,” the minister added.
Indigenous owners must drive growth – Elumelu
The Chairman of Heirs Energies Limited, Tony Elumelu, said the oil industry has turned around for growth, saying the increase in crude oil production to 1.7 million bpd in January is a testament to this.
He noted that following the oil divestment deals sealed in 2024, indigenous oil companies must live up to expectations and drive the growth of the sector.
Elumelu said, “For a lot of people, there is trepidation that we can deliver. There is also optimism that we can deliver.
“Heirs Energies has been one of those companies that have stood strongly for growth, as demonstrated by the growth we have achieved in our company by doubling production since inception.
“We thought that being a child of the Nigerian petroleum industry, we needed to bring all the parties together to discuss the growth of the industry.
“In that light, we felt it was important to bring together the industries to start talking about the growth.
“Now that it is us, the indigenous companies that are in control of a larger proportion of the production, we have to power it, we have to own the challenge, and we have to deliver to the Nigerian people.”
Nigeria exceeds OPEC’s 1.5mbpd oil production quota
Meanwhile, TheRadar earlier reported that Nigeria met and exceeded the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil production quota of 1.5 million barrels per day (mbpd).
According to a report by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigeria achieved an average daily crude output of 1,538,697 barrels in January 2025.
