By Henry Umoru, ABUJA

THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has said that production of three million barrels of crude oil per day is achievable from the 1.7 million it is, currently.

According to NNPC, the political will in that regard is already provided by President Bola Tinubu with directives to relevant security agencies to stem the ugly tide of oil theft and pipeline vandalism that led to an increase in daily oil production from 1.4 million to 1.7milliion barrels per day now.

Speaking on Saturday in Abuja at the Stakeholders Engagement Session NNPCL had with journalists, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, CCCO, of the oil conglomerate, Mr Olufemi Soneye, noted that the feat is attainable with support from all stakeholders.

He said: “three million barrels oil production per day is achievable in Nigeria if all the stakeholders work in synergy for that purpose from the security agencies both government and privately owned to oil companies and host communities.

“With expected synergy from all the relevant stakeholders on war against oil theft and pipeline vandalism, required enabling environment, would be in place for optimal oil production to the volume of 2.5 to 3million barrels per day.”

Soneye had earlier lamented that at a point, oil production went down to 900,000 barrels per day in the country before the involvement of private security agencies and renewed efforts of the military.

He noted that, “At that time, we felt Nigeria was in trouble as far as oil theft was concerned, but the intensity of war against it has allayed our fears.”

In a powerpoint presentation on the menace of crude oil theft and its impact on Nigeria’s economy by Deputy Manager, NNPC Command and Control Centre, Murtala Muhammad, noted that the crime of oil theft remains a serious concern.

He said that over 8,000 illegal refineries and 5,800 illegal oil pipeline connections were detected and destroyed within the last six months.

He listed Bayelsa, Rivers, Imo, Abia etc, to be hot spots of the crime.

In his paper presentation on “Balancing Reporting and Nation Building: The Role of National Assembly Press Corps’, the resource person, Professor Taiye Obateru, emphasized fairness and national interest in all stories.