This article discusses the crude oil production, price benchmark for 2024 budget as realistic according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company.
The Nigerian National petroleum company ltd. (NNPC LTD.) has assured that projections on crude oil production and benchmark for the 2024 budget were realistic and realizable.
The group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the company Mr. Mele Kyari, gave the assurance during the interactive session with the senate committee on finance at the National Assembly, Abuja on Wednesday.
A statement by Oluwafemi Soneye, chief corporate communications officer, NNPC LTD., noted that kyari made the remarks while speaking on the dynamics of the market in relation of the projected budget benchmark price of 77.96 dollars per barrel.
“With what we see in the market today and potentially in the year and even beyond the next two years, it’s very unlikely to see 70 dollars per barrel oil in the market.
The oscillation we are seeing, sometimes you do see price coming down to 75 dollars to the barrel and sometimes it goes above it overall, benchmarks are averages.
We think that the proposal by Mr. president around the 77.96 barrels is still realizable in 2024” he said.
On the crude oil production projection, he said Nigeria had 1.785 million barrels per day (bpd) as the cumulative of all oil produced in the country.”
READ: Nigeria’s oil production will hit two million Bpd before 2024, NUPRC insists
The GCEO said the figure was inclusive of all production activities, including crude oil and condensate.
“I need to make this clarification because of the reports in the media that our OPEC quota is 1.5 million barrels per day. The OPEC quota is related only to crude oil. We also do between 250,000 to 300,000 barrels per day of condensate in our production. When you combine the two, the 1.78mbpd is realistic and realizable.”
The NNPCL Chief expressed optimism that although there were challenges such as security and force majeure, measures being deployed by the Federal Government would take care of them, to guarantee the projected level of production.
Kyari also gave the assurance that NNPCL will maintain the level of dividends remittance to the Federation Account as stated in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and that the projected dividends from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd. was also realizable and would be made to flow directly into the Federation Account, as stipulated by the law.
Responding to questions on the Company’s Road Tax Credit Scheme, he explained that all the roads being undertaken under the scheme would be duly completed, adding that the scheme was anchored by the Ministry of Works with the Federal Inland Revenue Service and NNPCL only playing supervisory roles to ensure that value is delivered “for every kobo paid”.
Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, while expressing satisfaction with the explanations offered by the NNPCL GCEO, said the purpose of the interactive session was to deepen conversations on projections in the 2024 Appropriation Bill, to help lawmakers determine what and where to adjust.