The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it has declared a state of emergency on oil production.

Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Limited Mele Kyari, disclosed this on Tuesday in a keynote address at the opening of the 23rd edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition Week in Abuja.

According to him, a detailed analysis of assets revealed that Nigeria could conveniently produce two million barrels of crude oil per day without deploying new rigs.

However, a major impediment to achieving the objective remains the inability of players to act in a timely manner.

He added that declaring an emergency in the sector would help NNPC Limited and its partners to speedily clear all identified obstacles to effective and efficient production, such as delays in procurement processes, which have become a challenge in the industry.