Fg targets June for fiscal landscape for oil, gas sector – Kyari

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari, said that by June, the oil industry would have a clear fiscal landscape for operators to be able to plan. Kyari made this known at a breakout session for Chief Executive officers (CEOs)  in the industry  at the on going Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja, on Tuesday. The CEOs spoke on ” Investment to achieve economic sustainability. ” He said that the need for a new fiscal framework work was imperative adding that operators should be willing to embrace changing laws. Commenting on renewable energy, he said that Nigeria’s drive towards transiting to renewable and green energy would be frustrated by the epileptic power situation in the country.

He argued that discussions around encouraging the use of renewable energy should also focus on providing alternatives to addressing the epileptic power situation in Nigeria and across Africa.

“We have to resolve the issue of electricity so that we can talk about the renewables in the future; so that we can reduce the use of fossil fuels that has high impact on the environment. However, we believe that with time, there would be less consumption of fossil fuels. For us here, as a country, what we need to do is to transit into getting power to our homes, to our industries, to take advantage of the enormous gas resources that we have in this country. Over 200 trillion standard cubic feet of gas, which everybody knows; but we know that in the books, there are potentials for additional 600 trillion and growing. This is an asset that we have and which we can rely on to build and develop this country. To take gas to the export market, and particularly, to develop our domestic market,” he said. According to him, doing this means bringing prosperity to West Africa, as 70 per cent of West African resides in Nigeria.

Also speaking, President, Nigerian Gas Association, Mrs Audrey Joe-Ezigbo, said that the current uncertainty in the gas sector was not attractive to investors. She said that there was need to fix the infrastructural challenge in the gas sector by encouraging investment inflow. She added that the funds needed to fix the infrastructure would not be attracted through removal of profit motive.

She called for a better commercial framework to encourage investment across the gas value chain, adding that the government had to do more to ensure that illiqudity in the gas sector was addressed and in good time too. Chief Executive Officer of Chevron Nigeria, Mr Jeff Ewing, said that the company was working with the NNPC to deliver cleaner diesel from its Escravos Gas to Liquid, EGTL, plant to the Nigerian market. He, however, noted that because the Nigerian market was used to darker diesel colour, the company would be adding colour to the diesel.

He added that the company had significantly reduced its gas flaring activities, noting that it would bring about an increase in supply of gas to the domestic market. However, Chief Executive Officer of Lekoil, Mr Olalekan Akinyanmi, called for a relaxation of standards for Africa, in terms of carbon emission, arguing that Africa should be allowed to grow its economy using fossil fuels as was the case with other regions of the world. “Other developed parts of the world had grown using fossil fuels and now that it is Africa’s turn, the world is saying we should stop using fossil fuel. During these periods of their development, Africa paid for others, so I believe the standards should be relaxed for Africa,” he noted. (NAN)