Waterways operations increased oil production to 1.7m bpd – Naval Chief

Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, has ascribed the increase in daily oil production in the country from 700,000 Barrels Per Day (BPD) to 1.7 million BPD to the good job done by officers and men of the Nigerian Navy in the oil-producing areas.

Ogalla, who stated this Tuesday when he paid a familiarisation visit to officers and naval ratings at the Central Naval Command, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, urged the troops operating in the territorial areas of Niger Delta to step up their operations to record more successes.

He said the Nigerian Navy is determined to do more because it has dedicated officers and ratings who are committed to doing their job.

The naval chief, who had earlier visited the Military Joint Task Force Operation Delta Safe and Bayelsa State governor, said: “When we started in 2023, precisely around June, we went to all the naval formations, assessed the situation and looked at what was the problem, at that time the nation’s oil production was about 700,000 barrel per day.

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“We needed to raise our game and we became more intelligent, driven, in the sense that we made sure we involved the community and other agencies to get information.

“In doing so, many things were put in place. We impounded many vessels operating illegally, particularly oil theft.

“We demobilised these vessels and these criminals started seeing their ventures as very costly and the likelihood of them being caught is always there. “That is why they have been curtailing their activities in the last six months, resulting in an increase in oil production.

“This is what we have been doing and we are going to do more to increase our strategies. Why we are here is to look at some of the areas we have to work on, so that in 2024 we increase oil-production capacity by another 50 per cent.

“We have also recognised that in every organisation, you can have one or two bad eggs that will want to give a bad image to the Nigerian Navy. We have also put a mechanism in place to identify some of them. Some of them who have been identified, have been dealt with. We will continue to do that.

“I want to state that the environment we are operating in is a very complex one in the sense that the criminals have a lot of resources and reach; they can employ to give a bad image to those who are fighting them.

“So, we are not surprised by their pushback and all the antics they have employed to give the Nigerian Navy a bad image. But as a professional organisation and as people who are well-trained, we will never be deterred.