NNPC should face Nigerians over refinery questions – Lokpobiri

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has called on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to address the issues surrounding the country's refineries with the Nigerian public. This came during an interview on Channels Television's Politics Today, where Lokpobiri responded to criticism that Nigerians were misled regarding the performance of the refineries. He emphasized the importance of transparency and promised to ask NNPC to appear and explain the situation.

Lokpobiri's comments followed a debate on the program's host questioning how Nigerians were misled by claims that the refineries had reached full capacity, only for queries about their output to emerge later. Instead of jumping to conclusions, Lokpobiri stressed the need to establish accurate facts before drawing any conclusions.

Additionally, Lokpobiri discussed Nigeria's oil production, which he said had been on the rise. According to figures from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), production averaged approximately 1.84 million barrels per day, including condensates. The minister stated that the government's goal is to increase production beyond 2 million barrels per day, but aging infrastructure presents a significant challenge.

He explained that many of Nigeria's pipelines are more than 50 years old, which makes it difficult to evacuate additional crude even when production increases. Lokpobiri further revealed that NNPC has initiated a comprehensive pipeline overhaul, which will gradually enhance evacuation capacity. Moreover, he mentioned that operators are reactivating previously shut-in oil wells through re-entry programs following recent asset transfers, including Shell's former assets now managed by Renaissance Africa Energy and Seplat's acquisition of ExxonMobil's onshore business. These efforts are contributing to the gradual increase in Nigeria's crude oil production.