26 March 2012, Sweetcrude, ABUJA — President Goodluck Jonathan has said that Nigeria now produces 2.6 million barrels of oil per day.
Jonathan who stated this at the 2012 PDP National Convention in Abuja on Saturday, attributed the rise in production level to the ongoing economic reforms embarked upon by his government
Maintaining that the government was involved in the implementation of reform policies in key sectors of the economy, he said the government intended to grow capacity in local production and improve the quality of service delivery.
Represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, the president said: “I assure you that very soon, tangible results will begin to come in for Nigerians to appreciate some of the tough decisions we have had to take in the last two years to improve the quality of life of our citizens. In recent times, the economic reforms implemented by the PDP administration led to increase in our oil production, up to 2.6 million barrels per day.”
The President who noted that the implementation of the local content policy in the oil and gas sector was also helping to grow indigenous capacity, maintained that investments were being encouraged in the power sector, while a comprehensive roadmap for the power sector was being implemented to stabilise power supply in the country.
He said: “We are rehabilitating all our hydro-power plants for optimal capacity utilisation, alongside the construction of 10 power plants of which three will be commissioned this year.
“This is in addition to renewing our transmission and distribution capacity to ensure adequate power supply to all parts of the country.”
The President said the government had resolved to make Nigeria a major player in the international gas market through the implementation of the Nigerian Gas Master-Plan.
He stated that already, “the country had designed a framework for the expansion of gas infrastructure within the domestic market to boost commercial exploitation of gas for domestic consumption and export.”
According to Jonathan, the master plan was a roadmap to fully harness the nation’s gas potentials and meet challenges of gas supply to power plants nationwide.
