FG attracts $50 bn investments in oil sector, says Petroleum State Minister

…Reveals that Kolmani oil field licence expired, but now renewed

The Minister of state for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has revealed that the Federal Government has attracted $50billion investment into the oil and gas sector of the Nigerian economy.
Out of the total figure, he said one foreign investor alone has proposed a $20 billion investment which will potentially open up the oil and gas industry in the country.
The Minister spoke at an interactive session with some editors in Abuja on Tuesday, saying that the Federal Government will fine-tune the take-off of the investment in the next couple of months.
He said the Petroleum Ministry is liaising with the Justice Ministry and other key organs of government to see to the accomplishment of the investments.
He said also that oil production capacity of the country has grown to 1.7 million barrels per day, adding that the target of achieving 2.5 million barrel a day is feasible, with a commitment that “we will get there.”
He said the restiveness in the Niger Delta has significantly subsided, and it has improved the oil production with the controlled incidences of restiveness and vandalism.
“We want Nigeria to be on the list of countries with the highest crude production per day,” the Peteoleum State Minister said, and that the success of the upstream is necessary for the success of the midstream and the downstream sectors of the oil industry.
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu means well for Nigerians with the implementation of policies that will set the country on the path of sustainable growth.
He acknowledged that Nigerians are feeling pains on account of deregulation, but that the current government did not start deregulation.
He said it was a multipartisan consensus among stakeholders that deregulation will further open up the economy to make it more competitive.
He said the previous era where the NNPC had to import fuel and sell at half the price will hurt the economy, and is contrary to the letter and spirit of the Petroleum Industry Act which requires the NNPC to be run as a profit making entity to earn money for the infrastructure development of the country.
The government must be able to make money first and then finance infrastructure, so the administration needs to take tough decisions to set the economy back on track, he said.
He said the government wants petroleum products to be available so that the price volatility will be controlled in the spirit of deregulation.
While fielding questions, the Minister revealed that when he came on board as the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, it was found out that the operating licence of the Kolmani Oil field in Bauchi had expired.
He said the administration of President Tinubu ensured that the licence was renewed so that the oil exploration in Kolmani oil field is restarted and sustained.