* ‘$100bn investments needed to revive oil
sector’
The queues for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol,
in some parts of the country may not go away soon, the Minister of
State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, said on Thursday.
He, however, stated that a lot of work was being done by the
Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation to address the situation, adding that PMS importation
burden on the NNPC was so much.
The minister, who spoke during the conclusion of the Nigeria
International Petroleum Summit in Abuja, also stated that the
country needed $100bn worth of investments in order to revive its
oil and gas industry.
Responding to a question on how he intends to ensure that the
petrol queues, which are gradually disappearing in Abuja and
neighbouring states, did not reappear after the close of the NIPS,
Kachikwu stated that he doubted if the situation had gone
finally.
He said, “Even though I did tell the NNPC to make sure that
there was no queue during this period, it should have been looked
at literarily. It was basically saying that it’s gone on for a long
time and you need to find a solution. The GMD has been very busy on
a day-to-day basis and we are trying to implement whatever policies
are in place currently to ensure that the queues do not come back.
So I am sure we are going to continue to embed that policy.
“Has it gone away finally and for good? I don’t think so. I
don’t think so in the sense that there are still a few things and
there are importations taking place, there are reserves that are
being rebuilt and so a bit of challenge. But I know what they’ve
done is being able to manage the logistics angle very well.”
He added, “You also know that as we begin to trend into the late
March period, the market dynamics change, products become slightly
cheaper because of the summer and winter issues. So, what you might
then have is that some marketers, who are on the fringes and who
have efficiency levels, might begin to bring in a few cargoes
themselves and supplement.
“But I’m hoping that before then, some of the resolutions that
we have come to, which his Excellency is considering, would have
been approved and it will give the NNPC a lot more leeway in terms
of being able to address this issue. So I’m hoping it’s (petrol
queues) not going to come back.”
The minister insisted that other marketers had to come into the
business of petrol importation, as the burden was too much on the
NNPC.
Kachikwu said, “It is critical that we bring back market players
in terms of importation. It is too much of a burden to have the
NNPC as the last supplier of the product to the country. It is not
just something that can be achieved. They have done quite a lot of
work this week, courtesy of the ultimatum that I gave, as they have
succeeded in taking it out of Abuja.
“Not taking it out and resurfacing tomorrow, that is the issue
we need to go and address. The endemic business model. The business
model is that the landing price is higher than the sale price, and
second is that we do not want to increase price. So, in between
those two, we need to find things that enable us provide incentives
to the private sector to come back to business.
“And it should be a short-term thing. Hopefully, it should be
something that will last over the next 18 months, while the
refineries are being re-kitted. But after that, if we still do not
address the market fundamentals of the business, it will be like
what you are suffering in power, whereby you have trapped 2,000MW
of power that cannot be delivered because we have refused to pay
the right price for power.”
He, however, observed that, “For now the directives we are
working on is that no price increase because people are already
going through a lot of groaning and difficult time. Obviously, the
President is very concerned about that.”
On investments in the oil sector and where the government
targets to get investors, Kachikwu stated that about $40bn worth of
investments were being expected in Nigeria in few years’ time, but
noted that the oil and gas sector needed $100bn investments to be
revived.
He said, “I did mention that about $40bn investments are coming
from three very unique projects: Egina, $15bn; the Bonga, which we
are heading for FID is about $10bn; the Zabazaba is also about
$12bn. We have investments that are coming into the downstream, to
the refineries, which are invariable $2.5bn to $3bn, and the AKK
pipeline is about $3bn.”
* ‘$100bn investments needed to revive oil
sector’
The queues for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol,
in some parts of the country may not go away soon, the Minister of
State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, said on
Thursday.
He, however, stated that a lot of work was being done by the
Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation to address the situation, adding that PMS importation
burden on the NNPC was so much.
The minister, who spoke during the conclusion of the Nigeria
International Petroleum Summit in Abuja, also stated that the
country needed $100bn worth of investments in order to revive its
oil and gas industry.
Responding to a question on how he intends to ensure that the
petrol queues, which are gradually disappearing in Abuja and
neighbouring states, did not reappear after the close of the NIPS,
Kachikwu stated that he doubted if the situation had gone
finally.
He said, “Even though I did tell the NNPC to make sure that
there was no queue during this period, it should have been looked
at literarily. It was basically saying that it’s gone on for a long
time and you need to find a solution. The GMD has been very busy on
a day-to-day basis and we are trying to implement whatever policies
are in place currently to ensure that the queues do not come back.
So I am sure we are going to continue to embed that policy.
“Has it gone away finally and for good? I don’t think so. I
don’t think so in the sense that there are still a few things and
there are importations taking place, there are reserves that are
being rebuilt and so a bit of challenge. But I know what they’ve
done is being able to manage the logistics angle very well.”
He added, “You also know that as we begin to trend into the late
March period, the market dynamics change, products become slightly
cheaper because of the summer and winter issues. So, what you might
then have is that some marketers, who are on the fringes and who
have efficiency levels, might begin to bring in a few cargoes
themselves and supplement.
“But I’m hoping that before then, some of the resolutions that
we have come to, which his Excellency is considering, would have
been approved and it will give the NNPC a lot more leeway in terms
of being able to address this issue. So I’m hoping it’s (petrol
queues) not going to come back.”
The minister insisted that other marketers had to come into the
business of petrol importation, as the burden was too much on the
NNPC.
Kachikwu said, “It is critical that we bring back market players
in terms of importation. It is too much of a burden to have the
NNPC as the last supplier of the product to the country. It is not
just something that can be achieved. They have done quite a lot of
work this week, courtesy of the ultimatum that I gave, as they have
succeeded in taking it out of Abuja.
“Not taking it out and resurfacing tomorrow, that is the issue
we need to go and address. The endemic business model. The business
model is that the landing price is higher than the sale price, and
second is that we do not want to increase price. So, in between
those two, we need to find things that enable us provide incentives
to the private sector to come back to business.
“And it should be a short-term thing. Hopefully, it should be
something that will last over the next 18 months, while the
refineries are being re-kitted. But after that, if we still do not
address the market fundamentals of the business, it will be like
what you are suffering in power, whereby you have trapped 2,000MW
of power that cannot be delivered because we have refused to pay
the right price for power.”
He, however, observed that, “For now the directives we are
working on is that no price increase because people are already
going through a lot of groaning and difficult time. Obviously, the
President is very concerned about that.”
On investments in the oil sector and where the government
targets to get investors, Kachikwu stated that about $40bn worth of
investments were being expected in Nigeria in few years’ time, but
noted that the oil and gas sector needed $100bn investments to be
revived.
He said, “I did mention that about $40bn investments are coming
from three very unique projects: Egina, $15bn; the Bonga, which we
are heading for FID is about $10bn; the Zabazaba is also about
$12bn. We have investments that are coming into the downstream, to
the refineries, which are invariable $2.5bn to $3bn, and the AKK
pipeline is about $3bn.”
Read more https://nairalaw.com/petrol-queues-may-not-disappear-soon-says-kachikwu/