The Federal Government stated, yesterday, that the country no longer has the resources to fund the oil and gas industry, and is therefore, considering and developing new models of financing the industry in the days ahead, Vanguard reports.
Speaking at a town hall meeting in Abuja, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said: “Financing is going to be a key component of our goal, because new models of financing would have to emerge. The country does not have the sort of resources to continue to fund the oil industry. As we go upstream, we are going to begin to see a lot of innovative financing mechanisms to provide funding for the oil industry.
“My dream, if I achieve it, is that by the end of 2016, we would completely exit cash calls and be able to find ways to help support our business and get a lot more autonomy in terms of running the industry and report, basically, profit to the Federal Government.”
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources also disclosed that the Federal Government was considering allocating a number of marginal oil fields to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), if it performs creditably, so as to help it increase its crude oil reserves base. He also disclosed that a much more focused audit would be conducted on the operations and activities of the NPDC, to ascertain its asset base and also determine whether it is increasing or depleting its reserves.
Source: Energy Mix Report
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