The Federal Government has said the drop in Nigeria’s crude oil production was due to issues encountered on the Trans Niger Pipeline, coupled with maintenance activities carried out by some oil companies operating across the country.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, however, stated that efforts were on to fix the pipeline, adding that this would enable the country to produce up to 1.7 million barrels per day of crude oil and condensates.

Lokpobiri revered this in a statement issued in Abuja by his Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Nneamaka Okafor. 

The Trans Niger Pipeline is a major oil pipeline in Nigeria that transports crude oil extracted from oil fields in Rivers and Bayelsa States to the Bonny Crude Oil Export Terminal.

It is operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company Joint Venture, with a capacity of about 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which is about 15 percent of Nigeria’s daily output.

The Trans Niger Pipeline is an important part of Nigeria’s oil infrastructure, but it has faced significant challenges in recent years.