Minister tasks NNPC on cost optimisation

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has charged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to reduce cost of services and imported materials through reservoir research and in-country capacity.

Sylva stated this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit 2021.

According to him, a lot of development is expected in innovation from NNPC, which is the flagship in the country’s oil and gas industry.

His words, “If we are talking about cost optimisation, one way we can go is to research into our reservoirs and develop in-country capacity. If we do that, I am sure it is going to really bring down the cost of services and imported materials.

“That is where we are going at the end of the day. We want NNPC to become a truly Nigerian company, developing Nigerian solutions to Nigerian problems, which we can export. I believe that is what is going to bring the cost reduction initiative.”

Meanwhile, Managing Director of the Shell Petroleum Development, Osagie Okunbor, berated the low contribution of gas to the country’s Gross Domestic, which has also affected the reserve. He, however, urged stakeholders to pay much attention to it now than ever.

“Qatar contributes over 50 per cent of gas to GDP. But all the gas in our country together is still 10 to 12 per cent. So, it is clear to me that the ultimate catalyst on how we essentially make this reserve come to live sits around the gas value chain, and that is an area we must pay lots of attention to,” he said.

Further, Okunbor noted that execution of projects had been a major problem in the industry.

“Our problem at this stage is not policy or framework; it is mostly execution, getting projects that derive from these policies and bring them to fruition.

“We need to ensure that the Petroleum Industry Bill, when eventually passed, supports this project. We want to put our shoulders behind well-articulated policies and pick the projects, find new ones and execute,” he added.

Chineye Udezo
Chineye Udezo
Chineye Udezo is a content developer and social media manager. She is an intern at Plexus Media Interlinks, the owners of Financial Street.

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