The Minister of
State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachiwkwu, on Wednesday said the ministry
would focus on boosting revenue generation through the discovery of more oil
and gas in the country.
Kachikwu
announced this while fielding questions from newsmen during his assumption of
office in Abuja.
He said that
part of his mission was to cut costs, block leakages while promoting
transparency and accountability in the business of the ministry.
He said it was
important for all stakeholders in the ministry to devise new ways of doing
things, given the vantage position of the ministry as a major source of revenue
to the federation.
According to
him, it is necessary to think of new ways of doing business, given the
dwindling nature of revenues accrued to the nation.
“Our policy
direction is to find more money, find more oil, find more gas, monetise them
and put money in the hands of the government.
“We have
dwindling resources and yet the whole nation depends on this ministry to
provide the resources.
“So we must be
able to put on the cap on how do we cut cost; how do we improve on earnings;
how do we make Federation Account to improve?.
“How do we put
controls that are essential to avoid leakages; how do we develop new income
strings?.
“How do we
develop new investments to help the federation stabilise; those are very key
and that is where we are heading to.”
Kachikwu, who
also doubles as the Group Managing Director of NNPC, noted that the proposed
work in the ministry would change the way and manner things were done in the
past.
He said it was
important for the leadership of the ministry in all areas to key into the
change mantra of the present administration.
“There is a
lot to be done. It is not racing for racing sake; it is racing to change the
way things are done in this place.
“We will
absolutely require you to show an ability to deliver the sort of change mantra
that we are looking for and undergoing.
“This cannot
be done by one person; I do not have the magic wand, but I might have some good
ideas and those ideas will come from all of us and all of us will have to buy
into it.
“My direction
will also be clear; I don’t believe in vague direction; I believe in very clear
and transparent direction and we have a very clear line in terms of where we
are going.
“As far as the
president is concerned, there are very key substantial deliverables; one is
that the working environment and perception about this ministry must change.
“We are
working hard as we are doing in NNPC, but people here who actually are in the
supervisory environment over and above NNPC must even do more.”
On reduction
of crude allocation to NNPC, Kachikwu said an analysis on what the total real
consumption of oil was still on-going.
He said
efforts were on to ascertain if Nigeria actually consumed up to 40 million
litres of oil, noting that statistics were showing that Nigeria was consuming
closer to 35 million litres.
On gas
production, the minster said his aim in the ministry would also focus on global
blue print on gas development.
He said
developing the gas sector would involve a lot of money, noting that the
ministry would do everything possible to raise the money needed for the
development of the sector.
“We will drill
and get more gas; distributing gas is key; a lot of gas presently are stranded
in various fields and the issue is to get the required pipelines to transport
the gas.
“The
south-north gas line are key; we will see how they can be completed and taken
to other aspect of the country so that the rest of the country can benefit from
the gas resources we have in the south.
He said one of
key investment drive was to focus on how to get money into the gas environment
and develop the nation’s gas policies to attract big companies into the sector.
On pockets of
fuel queues in some fuel stations in the country, he said the president was
putting necessary steps to ensure that oil marketers received the money
approved by the Federal Government.
“The money was
approved by the president; the money has not reached them physically; there are
processes required in the constitution; the president is taking time to write
to the National Assembly.
“The money has
been provided; the president is working on that and soon they will get the
money.
He noted that
the fuel queues playing out in some parts of the country were orchestrated by
the operators of some fuel stations.
He said enough
fuel had been made available in all the states of the federation, noting that
what was playing out was panic buying.
“There is
enough fuel; the absence of the products is not the issue; what is happening is
panic buying; a total of 4,000 trucks was injected in the country.
“And the
normal utilisation is 2,000 trucks, but people get the fuel and stock them.
He noted that
that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) was putting measures to ensure
the issue of panic buying was eradicated.
“We are
ensuring that the product is made available to all and the queues you see will
disappear by the end of the day.”
On the
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), Kachikwu said that efforts were on to engage the
relevant stakeholders and the Senate, to fine-tune the PIB.
Ealier, the
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Dr Jamila Shu’ara, said
the minster was coming at a time the international oil market was in turmoil.
She said that
the appointment of the minister was a welcome development, given the crisis in
the international oil market.
Shu’ara said
the ministry would support the minster to achieve his lofty aim for the
ministry and the nation at large.
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