Featured, Oil & Gas
By Anayo Ezugwu
DESPITE the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on oil and gas sector, Mele Kyari, group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, says that the corporation is taking advantage of the novel virus. He said the situation opened their eyes to certain opportunities for cost reduction in their operations.
In an exclusive interview with Realnews, Kyari said the corporation was driving the reduction in cost aggressively along with its partners to see that the average cost of production per barrel in the country was brought down to $10 and below. He acknowledged that they were beginning to see results in that direction.
“As you may have been aware, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a lot of shock in the business world, and particularly in the global oil and gas sector. At the height of the lockdown, you would recall that crude oil prices crashed to sub-zero level. We were able to sustain production in the face of that and didn’t have to shut down our wells as was the case in some climes,” he said.
Kyari assured Nigerians that the corporation is working to sustain revenue generation through the oil and gas sector. “Efforts at ensuring sustainable revenues from oil are at two levels. First is the global level where the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and non-OPEC oil producers have come together to agree on measures to stabilize the market.
“That was what led to the production cut agreement which kicked off in May. Since that agreement, we have begun to see a rebound in the price of crude oil which has helped in improved oil revenue for the federation. Second is the marketing level where we are doing everything to ensure that we maintain and even increase the nation’s market share.
“By this, I mean our ability to ensure that we have reliable customers, who buy our crude. So far, we have done very well in this by retaining our customers even throughout the period of oil price meltdown.”
The NNPC GMD promised that OPEC production quota cut will not affect expected revenue from the sector. “As a key member of OPEC, Nigeria is committed to all production cut agreements. We do our best to keep to our production quota always,” he said.
– Oct. 1, 2020 @ 16:35 GMT |
Tags: COVID-19 opened our eyes to new opportunities in oil gas sector – NNPC GMD
