The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has charged Oando Energy Resources Nigeria Ltd to hit 100,000 barrels per day mark after the acquisition of the Nigerian assets of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NOAC.The $783 million deal which was finally concluded last month made the company as one of the major indigenous players in the oil and gas sector.
Speaking when he met with the management team of Oando in Abuja on Thursday, Dr. Lokpobiri said the government is determined to hit the two million barrels per day of oil production by the end of the year.
The expressed delight that the transaction has been successfully completed as it was one of the major issues he inherited when he resumed office about a year ago.
He noted that the government was also determined to create Nigerian international companies that would compete across the world.
“I know that Oando has enormous capacity in such a way that, if given the desired support, we can grow our production in a manner that would be a game changer in this country. I have always contended that the future of our oil and gas in this country lies with the members of the IPPG.
“I have always been asked at international forums whether the indigenous companies have the capacity to sustain the running of these companies. And I told them that our companies have the capacity to run them, professionally and profitably, in such a manner that the Federal Government will lose nothing.
He pointed out that it was his responsibility to continue to create the best environment in the oil and gas industry for companies to operate in Nigeria.My expectation is that Oando will ramp up production in these assets. If you are able to ramp up production it will help to meet the two million barrels production by the end of the year. There are enormous opportunities in the industry and we boldly tell the world that Nigeria is ready for business”, he added.
He disclosed that he was aware that Oando has increased production from 20,000 barrels to over 30,000 barrels since it took over the assets.
He urged the company to change the relationship between oil companies and host communities, charging them to “do things differently. Now you are dealing with your kinsmen and they expect better treatment.”
Earlier, the Managing Director, Oando, Dr. Ainojie Alex Irune said the acquisition of NOAC assets brings to two the number of assets acquired from International Oil Companies in Nigeria after the ConocoPhillips acquisition in 2014.
He maintained that Oando’s track record has demonstrated that Nigerian companies can competitively operate in the oil and gas, stressing that “IOC is not a concept reserved only for companies from the West, the Far East, and the likes. We can breed and create our own IOCs that would have sizable balance sheets, acreages across the world, and portfolios that can compete with the likes of the Aramco’s of this world, the Shell’s, Chevron, and so on. But we must start from somewhere.“Oando has started this journey.
I believe the history of the company is there to show and to prove with capacity to continue to do great things. And what we want to share with everyone today is the fact that we see a bright future, a bright future that speaks to a significant amount of improvement in the way these assets are run, a local approach to the local problems of host community and security, and a production uptake that will contribute to the overall production ambitions of the country in excess of what we have seen prior to now”.
