22 January 2013, Sweetcrude, Lagos – Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC, the exploration and production arm of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, is now Nigeria’s fifth largest oil producing company.
NNPC’s group managing director , Mr. Andrew Yakubu, who disclosed this, said the NPDC, the company currently produces about 130,000 barrels per day, bpd, but will be pushing this up 250,000bpd to meet the production target set for it by the government.
He spoke in Benin at the official commissioning of the NPDC’s Oredo integrated gas handling facility by Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
“This is the first major gas development project of NPDC and this clearly symbolises our swift response to the Federal Government’s gas-to-power programme.
“With an average crude oil production of 130,000bpd, NPDC is clearly the fifth largest oil producer in the country,” he said.
He stated that the company’s oil production will come mainly from the oil mining leases, OMLs, assigned to it from the divestment of NNPC’s Joint Venture partners such as Shell. In OML 119, NPDC’s concession on the continental shelf, the Okono and Okpoho fields are currently producing about 70,000bpd.
NPDC also has non-operated interest in nine deepwater acreages while its land assets in OML 65 (Abura field) and OML 111 (Oredo and Oziengbe) fields. Production is approximately 12,000 bpd from the fields. Also, its swamp interests in OMLs 64 and 66 in partnership with SIPEC are still under development.