The Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Mr Tony Elumelu, has suggested that Nigeria focuses on increasing oil production to diversify the economy.
Elumelu suggested this while speaking at the Nigeria Petroleum Industry Leadership Discourse in Abuja on Thursday.
The meeting, which was called together by Heir Energies, a subsidiary of Heirs Holdings, themed “Nigeria’s Oil Production Growth Roadmap: Acceleration Imperatives”.
Elumelu who is also the Chairman of Transcorp and United Bank for Africa, noted he is no longer a banker but an investor, explaining that his company, Heir Energies which acquired OML 17 from Shell a few years ago, now produces 53,000 barrels per day.
Elumelu acknowledged that the current oil production has increased to 1.8 million barrels per day in the current administration.
However, Nigeria must aim for higher production, above 2 million barrels daily to generate the needed revenue to develop and diversify the economy.
He stressed that the increased oil production was key to generating foreign exchange, stabilizing the naira, and improving national security.
Furthermore, the billionaire investor disclosed that despite having the highest power generation capacity in the country at 2,000 megawatts, Transcorp Power is battling with gas shortages.
He explained how improved production of gas and oil will help industries with enough fuel to function efficiently. Consequently, Nigerians would enjoy improved access to electricity as power generation companies would be able to increase electricity supply.
Elumelu also acknowledged that recent policy reforms and executive orders issued by President Tinubu had increased investor confidence, security, and the overall business environment in the oil sector.
The Chairman cited Heirs Energies as an example of what indigenous operators could accomplish with the right backing. He revealed that production at OML 17 has increased from 21,000 barrels per day under Shell to 53,000 barrels per day since Heirs Energies acquired the asset.
However, he enjoined the government and key industry players to further strengthen their collaboration to achieve the target of increasing oil production to the range of 2.5 million to 2.7 million barrels per day.
