Nigeria’s oil production surged to 1.6 million barrels per day on Monday, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, falling only a few million barrels short of the 1.8 million barrels per day quota that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had set for Nigeria.

At a gathering of industry stakeholders called to discuss the problems with crude oil theft and losses affecting the oil and gas sector, NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive, Mele Kyari, disclosed this.

He stated, “that the implementation of technology, together with the rectangle security strategy made up of NNPCL and partners, regulators, government security agencies, and host communities, insured the output would increase from its level in July 2022 to the current 1.67 million barrels per day”.

“At the occasion, which was presided over by Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Kyari said the implementation of the Detect, Deter, Destroy, and Recover strategy had paid off. Kyari was represented at the event by Bala Wunti, Head, of Upstream Investment, NNPCL”.

The creation of the Central Command and Control Center for efficient monitoring and coordination, the launch of the Whistle-Blowers Portal and the Crude Oil Validation Portal, the use of surveillance tools in the battle against oil theft and vandalism, and other tactics were also implemented.

He claimed that bringing in the previously isolated private security contractors from the host communities had been a crucial part of the relationship.

According to Kyari, the security contractors’ comprehensive understanding of the environment and the criminals’ methods had resulted in a number of significant discoveries of unlawful connections and the interception of vessels transporting stolen crude oil.

According to Kyari, continued efforts have resulted in the reopening of closed facilities as well as an increase in the injection of crude oil into significant trunklines for evacuation to the ports.