The newly appointed minster of State in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu yesterday unveiled President Muhammadu Buhari’s policy direction for the nation’s oil and gas sector.
This is as the minister also disclosed that Buhari has written to seek the National Assembly’s approval for an extra budget of N413 billion for payment of outstanding fuel subsidy claims to oil marketers.
He explained that although the money was approved by the President, the money has not reached the marketers because processes had to be followed in approving extra budgeting approval and urged the marketers to be patient.
Meanwhile, key amongst the president’s policy direction according to Kachikwu is increased oil exploration and production as well as gas monetization for increased federal government revenue.
Kachikwu who made these disclosures on assumption of duty yesterday, also revealed that the president’s plan include the need to address environmental issues in the Niger Delta as well as the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).
He said: “The policy direction of this government in the oil and gas sector is finding more oil, finding more gas, monetize it and increase revenue of government. We also want to deal with environmental issues so that oil producing communities do not feel left out in the process. That’s the simple policy, every other thing we do is going to be hedged around this policy direction,” Kachikwu said.
On PIB, he explained that the president is eager to see the bill come through adding that the bill would be represented to the National Assembly with new or reviewed terms.
He noted further that due to the various issues thrown up in the last bill, particularly with regards to fiscal regime, the federal government may segment the bill and present the fiscals separately from other components of the bill.
Kachikwu added that key to the successful passage of the new bill would be engagement of all stakeholders which he noted largely contributed to the failure of the old bill. “A lot of the sector didn’t feel engaged, we need to do more engagement so that at the end of the day we will all have a bill,” he said.
He disclosed further that the president has directed him to change the corrupt and opaque perception of the petroleum industry, adding that going forward; the petroleum ministry would have to imbibe new operational characters in line with standard practices.
“The work in this ministry is going to be very intense; there is a lot to be done. I think we have lost a lot of momentum in this sector from the practices in the past and coupled with the difficult international environment that we now need to begin to sit down and map out very clear deliverables for us,” Kachikwu said.
Source: Leadership
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