By Musa Adamu
Abuja
Federal government has expressed its readiness to raise funds from international investors and the private sector in 2016 to fund the Joint Venture (JV) cash calls between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and International Oil Companies (IOCs).
The minister of state for petroleum resources and group managing director of the NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, made this disclosure during an interactive session with Nigerians living in Vienna, Austria.
Dr. Kachikwu said already high level discussions were underway with local and international investors to bridge the perennial JV cash call funding gap.
He noted that the initiative was geared towards rebottling the federal government from bearing the burden of funding capital intensive projects in the upstream sector of the oil and gas Industry.
The minister further stated that in the years ahead, the NNPC over 5000 kilometres of pipelines across the length and breadth of the country would be privatised in order to enhance efficient management of the infrastructure and to bring to the barest minimum the high incidence of pipeline vandalism currently plaguing the petroleum sector.
According to him, in the next 24 months, Nigerians will see a positive dramatic turn in the refinery model in the country stressing that going forward the new refinery model that would be introduced would not only meet the petroleum products need of the country but that of the West African sub region.
He said: “The new model is that refineries would now buy their own crude oil, refine it and make remittances to the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC). They would operate a semi autonomy system that would enable them to run in a profitable manner.”
It would be recalled that Dr. Kachikwu gave the refineries a 90 day fast track ultimatum that would lapse by December, 2015.
He noted that from available reports before me, two of the refineries are likely to meet the deadline.
