Nigeria’s oil production has climbed from 1.1 million barrels per day in August 2023 to over 1.7 million barrels per day, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, announced on Friday.
Speaking to journalists at his office in Abuja, Lokpobiri said that increasing oil production is the key to solving Nigeria’s economic problems.
“Our only goal is to raise crude oil production,” he said. “The solution to almost all of Nigeria’s problems is to raise production because doing so will increase revenue for the nation.
“You understand how heavily dependent Nigeria is on oil; in fact, our budget is always based on how many barrels we produce. Even if the non-oil economy is booming, we still need to make enough foreign currency to fix our concerns.”
Lokpobiri said that he is committed to leading the sector in order to improve production and generate more income to support important national projects.
“A sizable portion of Nigeria’s foreign exchange comes from the oil sector,” he said.
“We have already started to gradually increase production. When you include condensates, it will be roughly 1.7 mbpd as opposed to the 1.1 mbpd it was in August. As of today, it is now between 1.3 and 1.4 mbpd.”
