The management of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) said it had recorded successes in crude oil and gas production from its assets.
NPDC Managing Director, Mr Mansur Sambo, made this known in Benin on Friday when members of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) visited the company as part of its oversight function.
NPDC is a registered company that operates profit and loss and also pays taxes.
Sambo who gave an overview of the operations of NPDC told the committee that NPDC, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) has about 38 assets out of which 24 were producing.
He said the company had successfully finalised the Ogoni re-entry strategy plan in oil mining lease (OML) 11 and commenced Gas SPV Shareholders Agreement as well as Gas Sale Agreement Negotiations
He said that NPDC in OML 26 had also completed debottlenecking/upgrade of Ogoni flowstation, adding that commissioning was ongoing
The NPDC boss further stated that the commission had achieved 99.6 per cent of production target for July in OML 65.
“We have completed the Abura field heavy oil development studies, Abura 6ST to add incremental production of 1500 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“We have also successfully drilled and completed Oredo 18 and 19 and completed post completion test for Oredo 18.
“Over the next five years, NPDC aspires to embark on an aggressive but cost-effective production strategy to reach 500,000bopd and 734 million standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) of gas.
“2020 till now has been very challenging due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, but NPDC is not only surviving but still standing very strong,” he said.
Sambo said the NPDC was probably the only oil company in Nigeria that recorded positive indices in 2020, other international oil companies (IOCs) recorded negative indices
“We just held our board meeting and our audited financial statements were presented to NPDC board.
“What this means is that as the company survives, it will continue to meet its obligation by way of payment of taxes and royalty to the federation
“We are able to keep employments during the COVID-19 period without letting anyone go,” he said.
According to him, one of the objectives of NPDC is to consistently achieve return on capital employed.
The managing director added that NPDC was not only the country’s largest gas producer but also the highest supplier to the domestic market.
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Alhaji Musa Sarkin-Adar, said they were in NPDC for oversight functions.
Sarkin-Adar noted that the oversight powers were inherent powers of the legislature as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution as amended.
He said the committee in pursuant to the power, were at NPDC to look into its operations and discuss the challenges with a view to proffer suggestions for improvement.
“To this end, the committee is interested in the operations outlay in the last two years till date.
“Projects undertaken during this periods, management of oil wells in your operations, crude production from each of the oil wells and contracts awarded during the period
“The sum of the contracts awarded, names and addresses of contractors and the overall income and expenditure of the company,” he said.
The chairman added that the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) if assented to by the President would address the challenges hitherto confronting the sector and create more opportunities for growth and investment in the oil and gas sector.
