Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has set end of year as deadline to pay arrears of governments cash call obligation.
The corporation has also set production target for its subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Corporation (NPDC).
The NPDC in the new target is expected to deliver about 500,000 barrels of oil per day (500,000 bopd).
The target if met, will position the agency to compete with the international oil companies (IOCs) and bring profitability to back into the system.
The group managing director of the NNPC, Ibe Kachikwu while speaking in Lagos promised assured that settlement of about $6 billion cash call obligation of the federal government in its Joint Venture arrangement with the IOCs will not exceed this year.
He said, the NNPC operations henceforth will be cost driven.
The corporation he stated has revived its auditing system and has also re-appraised its contract models to plug leakages and further give Nigerian companies opportunity to do business in the sector.
From the reviewed contracts, Kachikwu disclosed that about $150 million is saved monthly.
He insisted that if the NNPC should gain back credibility, it must operate on the alter of transparency.
The GMD said the NPDC is being transformed to raise its present 200,000 bopd to a projected 500,000 bopd.
“In the next one to two years I have to concentrate on fields that yields results. Our focus at the moment is to drive cost and be prudent.
With the price of oil continuously fluctuating, I have to drive cost of production down. $27 per barrel production at present could be good but at $40 per barrel is not profitable” he noted.
He assured of improved budgeting for upstream investments in 2016 budget.