By Adewole Kehinde
“Don’t just dream. Dig for it. Put your desires into motion, not just thoughts. Act. Be bold and courageous.” – Byron Pulsifer
Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited, is a revolutionary leader who is well-known for his uncompromising dedication to quality. His outstanding record at NNPCL is evidence of his capacity to be transparent, accountable, and strategic. Kyari has effectively turned NNPCL into a successful, top-tier company, revolutionising Nigeria’s oil and gas industry despite many obstacles.
When Kyari assumed duty as the head of NNPC on July 7, 2019, it was a critical period not only in the life of the corporation but for the entire Nigerian oil and gas sector as well as the national economy.
It was a turbulent period characterised by low production, burgeoning vandalism of oil pipelines, oil theft on a grand scale, and demoralised staff of the corporation.
His assignment was cut out. A lot was riding on his appointment as time seemed to be running out. It clearly wasn’t a task for the faint-hearted. But Kyari was no spring chicken. An insider, he understood well the workings of the NNPC system. He was going to give it his best shot, certainly.
Despite the harsh criticisms of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the national oil company under Mele Kyari as Group CEO has, in recent times, worked very hard to improve Nigeria’s daily crude production by as much as 60,000 barrels per day, it was learnt yesterday.
Slowly and steadily, the Group Chief Executive, Mele Kyari, of the NNPCL is returning Nigeria to the heyday of producing crude oil sufficient to satisfy its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) quota.
The country’s oil production has been hampered by several factors, including Crude theft: Nigeria loses about 150,000 barrels of oil per day to illegal pipeline tapping in the Niger Delta region. Environmental degradation: The Nigerian oil and gas industry’s environmental record is poor, with increased pollution, oil spills, and gas flaring between 2018 and 2019. Local unrest: Sabotage and local unrest have also hampered output growth.
Indeed, from a low of 900,000 barrels of monthly oil production in the last quarter of 2022, under the Kyari-led NNPCL, Nigeria in November 2024 hit 1.8 million barrels per day.
I was full of joy when the NNPC Limited on Thursday announced the increased oil production to 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), with the possibility of getting to two million bpd by year-end.
Oil production was estimated at 1.3 million bpd in October, according to producer group OPEC’s latest report.
The GCEO of NNPC Limited said the increase was a result of collaborative efforts with its joint venture operators and its partners on production-sharing contracts, alongside security agencies and the government.
“The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are, in the short and long terms, acceptable to our shareholders,” NNPC CEO Mele Kyari told a press briefing.
In June, NNPC set up a ‘war room’ to coordinate efforts of oil partners, the government, and private security personnel to stem crude theft. Since then, several vessels used in stealing crude have been destroyed and some illegal refiners arrested.
Kyari said the interventions across every segment of the production chain, supported by rigorous pipeline monitoring from security agencies, had been critical to the recovery.
Mr Lawal Musa, the Group Chief Executive Officer’s Senior Business Advisor and Chief War Room Coordinator, gave a summary of the Production War Room’s activities.
The Office of the National Security Adviser, Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, and public and private security groups collaborated to make the achievement possible, he disclosed.
He said the interventions that led to the recovery of production cut across every segment of the production chain, with security agencies closely monitoring the pipelines.
He stressed that when the Production War Room team was inaugurated on the 25th of June 2024, production was at 1.430 mbpd, but the team swung into action, culminating in it sustaining the production recovery to 1.7 mbpd in August and hitting the current 1.808 mbpd in November.
With the latest 1.808 mbpd, Nigeria has regained its position as the largest crude oil producer in Africa, ahead of Algeria, Angola,
Adewole Kehinde is the publisher of Swift Reporters and can be reached via 08166240846 or kennyadewole@gmail.com.
