The Federal Government has tasked petroleum engineers and other industry professionals with supporting its drive to increase Nigeria’s crude oil production to three million barrels per day (bpd) by 2030.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, gave the charge on Saturday at the inauguration of the sixth National Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Petroleum Engineers (NIPetE) and its Executive Committee in Abuja.
The event, themed “Assets, Talent and Integrity: Engineering Nigeria’s 3 Million BPD Target”, also featured a public lecture and fellowship conferment ceremony.
Lokpobiri, who was represented by his Technical Assistant, Business, Kroky Biowe, said the administration of President Bola Tinubu remained committed to achieving energy sufficiency.
He said the administration had taken deliberate steps to expand oil production and develop the infrastructure required to handle increased volumes.
“I need you to support the Federal Government by sharing your knowledge and wealth of experience to enable us collectively achieve Mr President’s production target of three million bopd by the year 2030. It is possible,” he said.
The minister described the theme of the event as laudable, stressing the need for good subsurface and surface assets, talent and integrity to achieve the country’s production aspiration.
He said the government was developing more fields and building new infrastructure to handle incremental crude oil volumes.
Lokpobiri said the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) had recently concluded a bid round in which 31 companies won 37 oil blocks.
He described the development as part of deliberate efforts by the government to stimulate investment and expand Nigeria’s production base.
According to him, the project has the potential to attract between 15 billion dollars and 21 billion dollars in investment.
He added that the project was projected to achieve peak production of about 175,000 barrels of oil per day.
“These and many other projects and initiatives are deliberate steps being taken by this Government to enable us achieve three million barrels of oil per day in 2030,” he said.
The minister urged the newly inaugurated Fellows, National Chairman and Executive Committee members of NIPetE to collaborate with stakeholders across the oil and gas value chain.
He said such collaboration would provide the technical support required to achieve the Federal Government’s production target.
Source: nannews.ng