ABUJA— After several months of exploration
activities, Borno State has joined the league of
oil-producing states in Nigeria, as the Federal
Government, yesterday, said crude oil had been
discovered in the state.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Jamila Shua’ra,
disclosed this during the agreement signing
ceremony for joint venture, JV, cash call exit
and presentation of the petroleum sector score
card in Abuja.
Shua’ra, however, failed to state the particular
area in Borno State where oil was discovered
and if the discovery was in commercial
quantity.
She attributed the discovery of oil in Borno and
Lagos states to the doggedness of the present
administration.
In the scorecard presented to stakeholders, the
ministry also noted that the introduction of
Price Modulation Mechanism and Appropriate
Pricing Framework had helped the Federal
Government to save N1.4 trillion that would
have been expended on subsidy payment
between May and November.
Also, the ministry announced that the
Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR,
would in 2017 conduct bid rounds for open
blocks and conclude the previously aborted
marginal fields bid round to enhance the entry
of new players, stimulate competition and
generate revenue for the government.
Osinbajo
Osinbajo on gains of subsidy removal
Commenting on the scorecard, Vice President
Yemi Osinbajo disclosed that the elimination of
petroleum subsidy had removed a huge
financial burden from the Federal Government.
According to him, the Federal Government had
commenced moves to raise the country’s
domestic refining capacity for petroleum
products by repairing the existing refineries,
licensing modular refineries and supporting the
development of private-led refineries.
He said: “Recently, the Federal Executive
Council approved new measures and strategies
aimed at eliminating the burden of joint
venture cash calls arrears and easing future
payments in the upstream sector. The
measures will boost additional investments
and raise daily production levels to about 2.8
million barrels per day, mbpd.”
Speaking in the same vein, Minister of State
for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu,
stated that prior to the removal of fuel subsidy,
the country was losing over N1.2 trillion
annually, while the issue of fuel scarcity was
rampant.
According to him, the elimination had led to a
situation where refined petroleum consumption
had gone down from an all-time high of 40
million litres a day to about 28 million litres a
day.
Commenting on the JV cash call exit,
Kachikwu expressed optimism that the
arrangement would bring about a flurry of
investments in the oil and gas industry, while it
would also ensure that projects that were
earlier abandoned by international oil
companies were revived.
The companies involved in the new cash call
funding model are Shell, Nigerian Agip Oil
Company, Chevron, Total and ExxonMobil.
Kachikwu challenged the oil companies to put
their money where their mouth is and increase
their investments in the country.
Also speaking, Group Managing Director of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,
NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed that the
cash call exit arrangement would help address
the longstanding issues of unpaid cash call
arrears, underfunding of the joint venture and
the burden of monthly cash call payments by
the Federal Government.