Oil Minister, Lokpobiri presents scorecard, insists FG not paying subsidy on fuel

Contrary to claims in several quarters, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, on Thursday, said the Nigerian Government was no longer paying any form of subsidy on fuel.

He made the assertion during a question and answer session after his presentation at the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Updates in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FTC.

Ministers are taking turns to present their scoreboard in the last one year to Nigerians as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government marks One Year Anniversary on May 29.

Lokpobiri was asked to respond to claims in some quarters that the Federal Government was still paying subsidy on fuel.

He however emphatically said: “I can confirm to you that subsidy is gone; officially, there is no subsidy; I want to make it clear that there is no subsidy in the country today.”

He said this was in line with President Tinubu’s announcement on the day of his inauguration that fuel subsidy was gone.

Meanwhile, earlier while making his presentation, the Minister said the current administration had ranked up oil production from about 1.1 million barrels per day which it inherited to about 1.7 million barrels per day.

He said the Renewed Hope Agenda Number 4 of President Tinubu “aims to unlock the natural resources of our great nation for economic prosperity.”

Lokpobiri announced that, “Our foremost achievement is the significant increase in production. When we took office, production was at approximately 1.1 million barrels per day, including condensates.

“Today, I am proud to report that we have increased our production to approximately 1.7 million barrels per day (inclusive of condensate).

“This increase is a testament to our relentless efforts to streamline operations and resolve conflicts among stakeholders.”

He said steps taken to increase crude oil production include “efforts towards revamping redundant oil assets to active status; Continuous engagement with IOCs and Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG) members in resolving industry disputes towards increasing production; Resolutions of internal Joint venture contracts feud between joint ventures partners on critical productions fields; Engaging local communities with critical assets running through them to protect the assets all in a bid to decrease oil theft in the country.”

Others were “Consolidating existing security frameworks with private security firms and Government security agencies for pipeline surveillance, which led to sharp decline in crude oil theft and thus increased production for export.”

Lokpobiri further stated that the period under review saw to coming on stream of OMLs 13 (Sterling Exploration) and 85 (First E&P), with the respective assets reaching first oil in the development of their licenses.

He said, “These assets are expected to produce an average of 20,000 and 40,000 barrels per day respectively.

“This achievement is another testament to the commitment of this administration to optimize production from the nation’s oil and gas assets by providing an enabling environment for existing and prospective investors.

“One of our main objectives has been to create an environment where investment can thrive.”

He equally blamed the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and inconsistent policies as responsible for driving investments away in the past.

The Minister, however, revealed that, “Today, I am pleased to announce that our efforts have rekindled investor confidence in the sector. Notable examples include: Investments committed to the tune of $5bn and $10bn respectively in deepwater offshore assets; and $1.6bn investment commitment in oil and gas asset acquisition.

“The very high global interest noted in the ongoing bid round of assets coming online, arising from the recent roadshow activities in the US and Europe.”

He also disclosed that the ministry under his watch had eliminated all forms of bureaucratic bottlenecks in line with the President’s mandate, adding that this rekindled investors’ confidence.

He ruled out any form of fuel scarcity in the country, stating that people were mostly queuing at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, filling stations to buy at cheaper rates.