Federal government has urged oil companies operating in the country to collaborate to increase oil output as the country has not been able to pump to its OPEC quota for years.

The minister of state for Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, who spoke at the 5th Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, noted that Nigeria’s crude oil production averaged 1.4 million barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of the year, well below the 1.8 million bpd quota in OPEC.

Also speaking in that direction, the chief executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, noted that production growth hinges on optimising our existing resources and exploring new frontiers.
Oil theft and pipeline vandalism have long plagued Nigeria’s upstream oil and gas industry, driving majors out of the biggest OPEC producer in Africa and often resulting in force majeure at the key crude oil export terminals.

Nigeria has consistently failed to pump to its OPEC+ quota due to oil theft and vandalism and struggles to launch new projects.

Meanwhile, authorities have been clamping down on oil theft and have been supportive of an increase in oil and gas output in recent months.

The NUPRC said earlier this month that U.S. supermajor ExxonMobil plans to invest as much $1.5 billion in deepwater oil and gas exploration and development offshore Nigeria.

The government’s call on Nigeria to boost oil production comes just as reports emerge that the OPEC+ producers that are withholding supply are discussing another large hike in output for July.

Another 411,000-bpd production hike is among the options that the OPEC+ member countries are discussing for the July production, unnamed delegates from the group told Bloomberg.

The OPEC+ has already announced two consecutive production increases for May and June, each of 411,000 barrels per day, triple the volume the group had previously planned.