Kachikwu, Total Strategise To Boost Oil/Gas Deals, Cut Fuel Import

The Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu has paid a courtesy visit to Total, one of the world’s leading energy companies. 

The talks, during the strategic visit to Total, centered on efforts to better energy in oil, natural gas and solar energy in Nigeria.

The conversation series revolved around:‬

1. Legal/Fiscal‬

‪2. Joint Ventures‬

‪3. PSC‬

‪4. Industry Cost Efficiency‬

‪5. Clean Energy‬

Acknowledging the visit, Dr Kachikwu said on his twitter handle: “In a bid to boost oil and gas investments in Nigeria, discussions with Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman/CEO of @Total will yield value. #7BigWins.”

Commenting on the state of refineries, he said that “it is shameful that we’ve continued to import finished products. 

“We need to stop. We are committed to this.”

Speaking further on fuel importation, he said that “there have been ongoing activities at the FMPR [Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources] to ensure that Nigeria ends the unsavory practice of products importation by 2019.”

While the visit lasted, he met a people he termed as “an exciting community of Nigerians that are showcasing excellence at Total,” saying “it was a great pleasure meeting them today.”

Recently, the Petroleum Resources Minister of State said that refineries need $1.2 billion for repairs.

Kachikwu said at a news briefing on Thursday in Abuja that reports of concession of Port Harcourt to Oando and Agip companies were untrue .

He said that “a technical committee set up by the government to undertake the review and selection process is yet to submit its report”.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria [NAN], “there had been reports that government had reached agreement with the firms following which the Senate asked that the contract be stopped.

“According to the minister, what has been accomplished by the committee is coming up with a holistic investment figure enough to fix the nation’s three refineries.”

Kachikwu was quoted as saying: “We have not selected any firm yet even though some firms have shown interests.

“We need about 1.2 billion dollars to repair and bring the three refineries of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, up to 100 per cent production level,” he said.

The minister, according to NAN, said the cost of the project had been determined in terms of the extent of work required.

“The total cumulative amount is in the 1.1 billion dollars and 1.2 billion dollars category between all the refineries. And that of course does not include the pipelines.

“You have got to address the pipelines and that is something else that is being done,” he said.

He further explained that Nigeria spent about N4.74 trillion on importation of petrol in the past year which was 30 per cent of the total foreign exchange outlay of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“The importation of petroleum products between January and December of last year amounted to about 20 million metric tonnes.

“A total amount of N3.4 trillion was spent, the consumption of FX from CBN was approximately 30 per cent of CBN total FX outlay, and the logistic costs of that importation was about N1.34 trillion within the same one year period.’  ‘

On domestic refining capacity, he said the nation produced six million litres out of a total consumption of about 35 million litres per day.

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