Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum during the week revealed some of the activities of his ministry.
He said the much-awaited overhaul of the country’s refineries would become a reality next month, as plans have been concluded to complete necessary arrangement with financials.
The minister, who reviewed efforts of the current administration in the oil and sector, noted that President Muhammadu Buhari and the President of Niger Republic, Mahamadou Issoufu, would in the coming weeks sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a new refinery to be located in a border town between both countries and close to Katsina State.
Kachikwu insisted that there was no going back on government’s commitment to end environmental challenges in the oil-producing region, especially the need to bring an end to gas flaring in the next two years.
Speaking on the new refinery, he said: “The refinery talks are at advanced stages. We expect the two Presidents to meet soon for the joint signing of the MoU.
The minister said on his Twitter handle, @ibekachikwu “On local production capacity and local consumption we are in an era where public sector funds are no longer used for refinery Turn Around Maintenance (TAM).
“We are looking forward to completing the process by July 2018.”
He said government would put policies in place to fast-track private sector involvement in the downstream sector, as nameplate capacity utilisation of existing refineries would still not ensure 100 per cent consumption availability.
He noted that the roadmap launched by the administration, otherwise called the ‘7 bid wins,’ has helped in boosting oil production and sustaining peace in the oil-producing region.
According to him, continuous engagement with stakeholders and partnership with PANDEF added huge value towards improved figures of oil output.
On the Niger Delta and security, Kachikwu stated that after the collaborative work done with other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), state governments are now fully involved.
“On modular refineries, two are structured to be delivered early in 2019. Five are deep in the fabrication process and we are looking at delivering a total of about 10,” he added.
Also speaking on the country’s relationship with Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), he said: “Nigeria, over the last three years, has shown tremendous leadership in the body, with a very visible presence and respected voice.
“This can also be attributed to the various exemptions we have gotten so far in the area of productions cuts.”
Regarding reforms in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), he noted that government had taken a bold step through its policy, called the ‘20Fixes,’ adding that the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the corporation, Maikanti Baru, would implement necessary reforms and unbundling processes.
Meanwhile, OPEC witnessed 13-month low oil output with May figure standing at about 32 million barrels per day due to decrease from Nigeria.
The biggest decrease in the supply came from Nigeria due to a force majeure declared last month by Shell.
OPEC’s May statistic showed that supply was down by 70,000 bpd from April’s revised figure. The supply in May was the lowest since April last year.
Credit: guardian.ng
