Oredola Adeola

The Organization of the Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) has charged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) to do everything possible to raise Nigeria’s crude oil and gas production by tapping into about $14trillion of investments required by the world to meet global energy demand from 2024 till 2035.

Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPC Ltd. made this known in a statement obtained by Advisors Reports on Wednesday.

According to the statement, Haitham Al-Ghais, Secretary General of OPEC, made this suggestion when he paid a courtesy visit to Mr. Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, at the NNPC Towers on Wednesday.

According to him, in spite of the pushback on oil and gas, the world would require about $14 trillion investments from now till 2035 to be able to meet global demand and urged NNPC Ltd. to do everything to tap into that opportunity to raise its production to continue to be a reliable source of energy to the world.

He said, “We will continue to ensure that the market is stable. The global market has to be stable in order for Nigeria to be able to attract investors.

“If there’s volatility, if there’s no stability in the market, it will only create havoc for everybody, whether it’s a producer or consumer country. So, we will continue to do that in OPEC. We count on Nigeria’s support”, the OPEC helmsman said.

Al-Ghais further emphasised that OPEC aligned with NNPC Ltd.’s vision as captured in its payoff line, “Energy for Today, Energy for Tomorrow”, because of its inclusive view of energy as opposed to the view being pushed in some quarters that some sources of energy were bad.

Kyari in his response to the suggestion of the OPEC SG said that NNPC Ltd. is working very hard to recover lost production and provide the right fiscal environment to attract investments.

He expressed appreciation to OPEC for its support to Nigeria, adding that NNPC Ltd. will continue to support the organization in whatever way it could.