The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources informed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) owed $6 billion to these companies, stating that the cost of meeting NNPC’s majority stake in these ventures was over $2bn annually.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has disclosed that Nigeria’s oil production had recovered to 1.75 million barrels per day, as against 1.69 million barrels per day it recorded in June because of the attacks by armed militant groups in the Niger Delta.

Kachikwu pointed out that the nation’s oil production was earlier reduced to 1.4 69 million barrels per day, which was believed to be the lowest since 1989, explaining that the attacks against oil and gas facilities since February this year had led to a series of force majeures on Nigerian crude, including key export grade Forcados.

According to him, the Federal Government was working with local communities and the armed groups to solve the problem, adding that the Federal government was equally working to reform the way it had been funding its cash-call obligations to its upstream joint venture partners such as Shell, Total, Italy’s Eni, Chevron and ExxonMobil.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources informed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) owed $6 billion to these companies, stating that the cost of meeting NNPC’s majority stake in these ventures was over $2bn annually.

Kachukwu said: “The government has been unable to adequately fund NNPC’s cash-call obligations for years, leading to delays in new upstream projects. Changing the arrangement is aimed to end NNPC’s financial obligations, which instead would be funded by the foreign joint venture partners.

“NNPC is also working to improve its refinery operations so it could reduce its imports of refined products by 60 per cent by 2018 and end all imports by 2020. The government was also drafting executive legislation that would also enable the passage of the long-delayed petroleum industry bill.”

However, the Chief Executive Officer of TGS Intelligence Consultants, Mr. David Otto, a global security provider and security analyst, had said that the military’s joint offensive against militants from the Niger Delta could spark retaliatory attacks on civilians.

Reports claimed at least 100 militants were killed during raids at the weekend, months after repeated attacks on oil pipelines brought the country’s oil production to a 30-year low.

Otto said: “The primary target of the militants has been on pipeline oil installations, but the offensive could see militants widen their target to include the army and other security architecture. Then the civilian population will likely suffer as a result if attacks and counter attacks become indiscriminate.

“This is a case of action/reaction/action. The government must avoid escalating the crisis in the South beyond repairs. The existing Boko Haram instability in the North East, Shiite crisis in North-West, farmers/herdsmen conflict in Middle Belt region and Biafra secession crisis in South East means the government resources could be overstretched if it continues to pursue a military solution in Niger Delta.” (independentnig.com)

•Photo shows Dr Kachikwu.