…$100bn needed to fix oil sector says Kachikwu

Uche Usim, Abuja

Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday called on global investors to latch on opportunities inherent in the nation’s oil and gas sector, saying the Muhammadu Buhari administration remains committed to deepening international partnerships to grow the economy.

Osinbajo, while declaring the maiden edition of the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) close in Abuja, hailed local and international partners who supported the summit to make it a huge success.

According to him, Nigeria remains a country blessed with abundant hydrocarbon reserves, especially crude oil and gas, urging the attendees to partner with the government in various Public Private Partnership programmes.

He advised the organisers to make the programme a continental affair as the time was ripe for African nations to collaborate to develop the region. The Vice President said: “The attendance is encouraging. The success of this maiden edition sets tone for the next one next year. “It is good we make it a continent wide summit. It’s unique. This edition was rich. It created room for students of secondary and tertiary education to partake in it. This will kindle their interest in the sector and ultimately we will increase the number of experts in the sector and replenish aging hands and deepen local content. 

He further said the government has since introduced new legislations to remove emcumberances encountered by investors and stakeholders in the sector.  In his remarks at the closing ceremony, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said the country needs about $100 billion to address some challenges in the sector.

“We need to go into Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPGs). So we convert cars from petrol to LPGs. We need to fix our refineries, and address security challenges in the Niger Delta region, among other things,” he stated.