Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has said that Nigeria’s oil production has risen to 1.9 million barrels per day (b/d) and should rise to 2.2 million by the end of July if pipeline repairs are completed.
The Minister made the disclosure yesterday in a Bloomberg television interview monitored from Beijing, China. According to him, the activities of militants had cut Nigeria’s production by 800,000 barrels to about 1.4 million per day.
“We’ve been able to get production up back to about 1.8/9 million barrels per day as of two days ago. We are continuing those conversations and by the time the Forcados line is repaired in July, we should be able to come back to our production ceiling for this year, of 2.2(million).
“Things are looking up, engagements are trending positively, we’ve been able to make in-routes into those conversations, but what is more important is the need to continue that momentum and the need to look to a long term solution to the Niger Delta crisis.”
