FG: Tinubu Determined to Reverse Underinvestment in Oil, Gas Sector
Allays concern over increase in fuel price, electricity tariff Minister inaugurates multi-billion dollar midstream, downstream gas infrastructure fund governing council
The federal government yesterday, said President Bola Tinubu was determined to reverse the trend of low investment level in the oil and gas sector in order to address the revenue crisis that is severely impacting all Nigerians.
The Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs. Olu Verheijen disclosed this in Abuja at a Ministeria
Also yesterday, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, called on stakeholders, both domestic and international, to join hands with the management of the multi-billion dollar Midstream and Downstream Gas Infrastructure Fund (MDGIF) to boost investments in the gas sector. The minister stated this in Abuja, at the inauguration of the Governing Council of the MDGIF, according to a statement by his Spokesman, Mr. Louis Ibah.
Speaking further, Verheijen, noted that although the oil and gas sector was critical to the ability of the country to grow revenue and forex to stabilise the economy, investments level had fallen short of the country’s potential.
She lamented that since 2016, Nigeria had only accounted for four per cent of Africa's total oil and gas investments, despite possessing 38 per cent of the continent's hydrocarbon reserves.
“We need to address the fundamental issues in the sectors so that we can attract capital to the infrastructure and there is no one who's going to invest in Infrastructure if they don't have assurance, the line of sight to the attractiveness of gas supply.
“So, if gas suppliers are not making any investment because the fiscal terms of the business environment is a very difficult one in which to invest in, then it will be difficult to continue to mature mainstream projects and downstream projects because you have to deal with the ab initio problem which is gas supply.
“And that is exactly what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done by fast tracking these policy directives to ensure that we have sufficient gas supply whether we're trying to export, whether we're trying to compress natural gas or liquefied for domestic use, whether we're trying to have floating energy as an alternative way of getting gas into the market, all of those things are enabled by these policies.