The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has expressed its readiness to strategically put in place measures that would alleviate the cost of crude oil production in Nigeria to create market for Nigeria’s crude and make Nigeria a choice destination for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, made this known at the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Round Table discussion on Wednesday in Abuja.
Mallam Kyari stated that at the moment the cost of crude oil production in the country was within the range of $15 to $17 per barrel, adding that some leaders in the Industry such as Saudi Arabia’s cost of production is between $4 and $5 per barrel.
He noted that due to the uncertainties of the global crude oil market, countries that produce at the cheapest price would remain in the market while jurisdiction with high cost of crude oil production would not be able to cope with the competing prices.
He noted that due to the Coronavirus pandemic, Nigeria has about 50 cargoes of crude oil that have not found landing, adding that this implies that there are no off-takers for them for now due to drop in demand.
“Today, I can share with you that there are over 12 stranded LNG cargoes in the market globally. It has never happened before. LNG cargoes that are stranded with no hope of being purchased because there is abrupt collapse in demand associated with the outbreak of coronavirus,” Mallam Kyari submitted.
