Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe kachukwu
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu has weekend gave an indication that Federal Government will begin payment of $5.1 billion joint venture cash calls to International Oil Companies (IoCs) from this month, April 2017.
Explaining more in his keynote address at the first Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair organised by the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, the Minister revealed that government has prioritise fulfilling financial obligations to the IoCs in order to raise activities in the sector.
He said the payment will form part of strategies by the government to remove all institutional and financial constraints and move to about four million barrels per day.
Kachikwu also averred that government was focusing on boosting local refining because it is now outdated to rely on crude exploration, transporting and externalising export of crude to drive the sector in an economy like Nigeria.
He disclosed that “Nigeria must refine its crude because the supply chain in the world has changed and being a supplier of crude no longer confers advantage on oil producing countries”.
“Nigerian business model cannot continue to remain to drill, to transport and export, saying, “it must be to drill, to refine and export. This is also time for oil and service companies to deepen their areas of specialisation and prevent overcrowding in certain areas that muddles up the sector.
