Nigeria has achieved full pipeline availability for the first time in 20 years, signalling a major boost for the country’s oil and gas sector and restoring investor confidence in its energy infrastructure, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) said yesterday in Accra, Ghana.
Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC Ltd, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, spoke at the seventh African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) National Oil Companies CEOs Forum, where he called for greater African collaboration to accelerate the continent’s energy transition and secure its energy future.
Pipeline availability is critical to crude oil evacuation in the face of theft and vandalism. In July, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regularly Commission (NUPRC) said the country’s oil production surpassed 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), with current average output at 1.78 million bpd. Although that’s below the targeted two million barrels per day in the budget, it is a significant increase when compared with recent years.
Ojulari attributed the breakthrough to strengthened partnerships with host communities and security agencies, which have drastically reduced vandalism and crude oil theft, long-standing challenges that had previously undermined production and exports.
“Through our renewed security architecture and community engagement framework, Nigeria has achieved 100 per cent pipeline availability for the first time in two decades. This achievement restores confidence in the resilience of our energy infrastructure and sends a positive signal to investors,” Ojulari stated.
The NNPC chief outlined several infrastructure initiatives aimed at deepening energy access and boosting regional integration. Key among them is the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) Gas Pipeline, a flagship project designed to expand Nigeria’s gas network and drive industrial growth.
