By Oke Peter
The Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has said that it will grow its equity production from the current 180,000 barrels per day to 500,000 bpd by 2020.
The Managing Director, NPDC, Mr Yusuf Matashi, who stated this in Benin, said the planned increase in the company’s equity production was due to the ongoing transformation in the corporation, according to a statement issued in Abuja, on Monday by the Group General Manager, Public Affairs, NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu.
Matashi said having attained the position of the fifth largest oil exploration and production firm in the country, the NPDC was poised to efficiently manage its portfolios to achieve the new target.
He stated, “The NPDC has 55 per cent equity in nine blocks of Oil Mining Lease 4, 26, 30, 34, 38, 40, 41, 42 and 55; non-equity operations in three blocks of selected NNPC Joint Venture fields; 60 per cent participatory interest in four blocks of OMLs 60, 61, 62 and 63; and 100 per cent ownership of seven blocks of OMLs 11, 13, 64, 65, 66, 111 and 119.
“In summary, the company is involved in 29 concessions, which comprise 22 OMLs and seven oil prospecting leases.”
He explained further that the company had varied interests in seven deep-water concessions and had successfully executed a global Memorandum of Understanding with communities in OMLs 30 and 34, adding that the NPDC achieved a major feat by successfully drilling and completing five horizontal wells in nine months in OML 26, leading to the production of additional 7,000 barrels per day.
The NPDC boss said that the company had successfully turned around OML 40 asset from zero bpd to 12,000 bpd, which underlined the company’s rising profile as the seventh largest owner and operator of Floating Production Storage and Offloading facility in Nigeria, with FPSO Mystra having 1.03 million of crude oil producing capacity.
Matashi added that the NPDC also carried out some intervention activities, which led to the peak production of approximately 10,000 bpd in OML 65 in June.
He declared that at present, the NPDC was the biggest and largest gas producer in the country and was also the highest supplier of gas to the domestic market.
Matashi said, “The NPDC’s aggressive gas pursuit since 2009 has also raised the company’s profile as the highest single supplier of gas to the domestic market with an average of 700 million standard cubic feet per day. The Utorogu non-associated gas 11 plant was also completed recently, adding 150 mmscfd; the Oredo 2 gas plant also adds 100 mmscfd and the successful re-entry of Odidi, which led to an addition of 40 mmscfd of gas indeed represents a major achievement for the company and a step forward to achieving the NPDC’s aspiration to become a serious global player in the E & P industry.”
He also disclosed that the company had awarded scholarship to over 6,000 indigent members of its host communities, renovated and built blocks of classrooms, provided classroom furniture and offered employment opportunities in its areas of operation as a means of empowering the communities.
Source: NNPC
Yusuf Matashi, Managing Director, NPDC
