The Nigerian Minister of State Petroleum(Oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has reiterated the unalloyed commitment of the present administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to ramp up crude oil production through effective enabling policies such as the “Drill or Drop Policy”.

The Minister emphasized on the readiness of the current administration to implement the Drill or Drop policy while addressing a distinguished gathering of the Oil and Petroleum Trade Section (OPTS) at the Cross Industry Group (CIG) meeting held in Istanbul, Turkey.

According to Sen. Heineken, the “drill or drop” policy under the PIA mandates that operators either actively develop assigned fields or relinquish them. He further highlighted numerous enablers the present government has put in place to encourage investment in the upstream sector.

“We are creating favorable investment environment, reducing barriers such as entry costs, while setting timelines for activating blocks. Under President Tinubu’s administration, new fiscal policies, like the VAT Modification Order and Tax Incentives for deep-water production, aimed to make Nigeria more competitive in Africa’s energy landscape.

“These reforms, alongside a streamlined procurement cycle, are part of a strategic drive towards sustainable growth, energy security, and a diversified economy for Nigeria’s future,” Sen. Lokpobiri stated.

“Hence, renewing licenses without progress is no longer acceptable; as we need operators to bring fields to production promptly to meet our goal of increasing oil output by over a million barrels,” He added.

“We cannot afford to hold valuable fields in perpetuity. It’s either you put them to work or relinquish them. The era of renewing licenses without development is over,” He reiterated.

Nigeria is currently working assiduously to ramp up its crude oil production from its current level of 1.32 mbpd to 2.5 mbpd. The projected crude oil production will enable Nigeria to meet its OPEC quota and domestic refinery demand.