Nigeria has capacity to meet OPEC quota- NUPRC boss

“Our projection is that we can hit over two million barrels and surpass our OPEC quota”

The Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr Gbenga Komolafe, says he is optimistic that Nigeria can meet its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil production quota.

Komolafe said the nation has the capacity to meet the production quota, despite loosing between 80,000 to 100,000 barrels of oil per day to direct theft or shut-ins.

The NUPRC boss said this in an interview on Arise TV, monitored by Persecondnews.

He stated that based on NUPRC’s target of getting about 40 to 50 per cent of the shut-in volumes, the government would be able to add about 500,000 barrels to what the country was currently producing.

“Our projection is that we can hit over two million barrels and surpass our OPEC quota,” he said.

He further disclosed that findings by the commission revealed that about 1.2 million barrels of crude oil were consistently shut in by producers across various oil wells in the Niger Delta due to the incessant oil theft in the industry.

Komolafe announced that an operations committee had been set up to identify shut-in wells to be able to have feasibility around the wells.

“So, our engagement is aimed at identifying the wells that could be re-streamed in a manner that we could have some barrels added to our existing production.

“In the process we identified the fact that we can readily in the shortest possible time re-stream wells with which about 400,000 barrels of oil can be brought on stream.

“With our discussion with the operations committee, there is the possibility of bringing not less than 400,000 barrels of oil per day.

“If that is done, the nation could be meeting its OPEC quota which stands at about 1,800 barrels of oil per day. So clearly our optimism is driven by facts,” the NUPRC boss said.