The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has announced that the country’s oil rig count is expected to reach 50 by the end of March.
According to the Chief Executive of NUPRC, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, the current rig count stands at 38, up from 32 in previous weeks.
Komolafe said that increasing the number of active rigs is crucial to boosting oil production and achieving the target of 2 million barrels per day.
“We believe that between now and the end of March, we should be achieving 50 rigs, that is our projection,” Komolafe said during the Heirs Energies’ Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Discourse in Abuja.
He noted that the commission is working closely with stakeholders, including funders, rig owners, and others, to achieve this target.
“Part of what we’ve done is to facilitate a situation whereby the funders have been brought in; we set up a platform where all the key actors… could interact together in that initiative.”
As part of its regulatory reforms, NUPRC is also driving the industry effectively by ensuring the digitization and automation of the licensing and approval processes. Komolafe explained that this will translate to efficiency in operations by reducing delays and costs.
“Approval processes have not only been streamlined, but equally automated as part of the processes that the commission is putting in place to ensure that the industry achieves the targeted 2.5 million barrels per day.”
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