TheCable

Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, says the country now produces two million barrels of oil per day (bpd).

Kachikwu said this when he defended his ministry’s budget before the house of representatives committee on petroleum resources (upstream).

He told the committee, which was chaired by Victor Nwokolo, a lawamaker from Delta state, that ongoing repairs on oil facilities and negotiations with militant groups in the Niger Delta region were yielding results.

Kachikwu also informed lawmakers that repair works on the Forcados Oil Terminal were almost completed.

He stated that in a matter of weeks, the facility could be reopened, a development that would further shoot up oil production to 2.2 million bpd.

“In some weeks, we will be able to progress to 2.2 million bpd, which is the target of the (2017) budget,” he added.

Forcados, one of the major shipment terminals, was shut down around March 2016 after militants blew up a sub-sea crude pipeline that supplied the facility.

He said the government had plans to repair or replace old distribution lines and platforms to improve delivery of products but poor releases of budgeted funds have been slowing some of the projects.