Nigeria’s oil production has increased to about 1.7 million barrels per day, the Federal Government announced on Friday.
TrackNews Media reports that the new figure has swelled up by six million barrels per day, up from the 1.1mbpd recorded in August 2023.
According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, it is a good development because, once production capacity increases, there will be more revenue for the country.
The minister told pressmen on Friday at his office in Abuja that even though the other non-oil-based sectors are thriving, Nigeria relies most on oil revenue as her budget is even based on the cost and figures of oil production.
Lokpobiri said that goes a long way to show how important oil revenue is for the government.
He said, “We have a sole agenda, and it is to increase crude oil production. Once you increase production, there will be more revenue for Nigeria, and that is the recipe for virtually all the problems we have in this country.
“You know that Nigeria is very dependent on oil, even our budget is always predicated on how many barrels of oil we produce. Although the non-oil sector is thriving, for us to solve our problems, we need to earn enough forex.
“And a substantial part of our forex comes from the oil sector. So my ambition is to see how I can lead the sector to increase production and how we can get more revenue to be able to fund strategic national projects.
“We are already increasing production steadily. As of August, it was about 1.1mbpd, but as of today, it has increased to between 1.3 and 1.4mbpd exclusive of condensates, if you include condensates, it will be about 1.7mbpd.”
