JANUARY 11, 2018 – With about 37 billion barrels of oil reserves and 192 trillion standard cubic feet of gas reserves, there is no doubt that Nigeria remains a major petroleum producing and exporting destination in the Gulf of Guinea, the Project Director, Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (NIPS), Mr. James Shindi, has said.
Investigations showed that a bulk of these endowments has not been developed for domestic application and export as a result of many factors, especially limited investment.
“It is against this backdrop that the Federal Government’s planned Nigerian International Petroleum Summit (An African Petroleum Technology and Investment Conference scheduled for Abuja from February 19 -23, 2018, is very important and relevant,” he added.
Shindi, the Project Director of the first edition of the Summit said: “As part of the ongoing reforms in the sector and as a contribution to the Nigerian and African oil and gas industry, the Federal Government took a formal position to stage an annual National Resource event backed at the highest level and which will create the perfect platform for cross pollination of ideas, networking, business and local content development, government to business, business to business, government to government and other linkages while promoting Nigeria as a business and tourism destination to the global energy community.
“The event will be run on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis and be self-funding, which explains why the government undertook an international competitive bidding process to select a partner to work with on terms, which the government set out. These are very strict terms but they ensure that the partnership works and all parties deliver on their roles and responsibilities.
“The government has demonstrated adequate commitment to this event. For instance, the Federal Executive Council granted approval for the event to take place under the current arrangement. The government also through the Vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, unveiled the event in the presence of 19 Ministers of Petroleum who attended the extra-ordinary meeting of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) earlier this year,”he said.
He continued:“The support from the government has been fantastic. There are regular planning meetings, which involve all the government agencies under the Ministry including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Equalisation Fund (PEF), Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) and Petroleum Technology Institute (PTI).
“There are also wider consultations with other agencies and government departments outside the Ministry of Petroleum to ensure that the event goes well. The government has also officially invited other governments to attend including National Oil Companies from both the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC and non-OPEC members. The aim is to make this event a reference point for energy related discourse globally.”
Sequel to the Joint Senate and House of Representatives Committee hearing on fuel scarcity in Nigeria, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources would like to correct some erroneous reports emanating from some sections of the media on the outcome of the hearing.
