Buhari vows to build on Yar’Adua’s peace moves in Niger Delta, directs NNPC to review crude oil swap deals

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Monday in Abuja, assured investors that his administration will implement far-reaching reforms to boost accountability and transparency in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Speaking at a meeting with senior officials of Chevron led by the company’s President for Africa and Latin America, Mr. Ali Moshiri, Buhari declared that his administration was ready to effectively address the myriad of challenges in the sector.
“We understand the situation in the industry and we will do our best to address the challenges affecting exploration, production and distribution of oil products in the country,’’ the President told the delegation.
Acknowledging the merits of the Amnesty Programme initiated by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to reduce violence in the Niger Delta region, Buhari said that his administration will build on good aspects of the programme.
The President added that his administration will also implement other measures to enhance security in the Niger Delta and optimise investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
Moshiri had urged President Buhari to restore the confidence of international investors in the industry.
He identified improved security in the Niger Delta as key to increased investment in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.
Moshiri said that Chevron, which has 36.7 per cent interest in the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited, was keen to support Nigeria’s gas sector and bring more electricity to Nigerian consumers.
In a related development, Buhari also said that his administration would handle the issue of subsidies on petroleum products with care.
Speaking after receiving a briefing from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other agencies in the oil sector, Buhari said that he will carefully review all the submissions he had received on the need to remove the subsidies.
“I have received many literature on the need to remove subsidies, but much of it has no depth. When you touch the price of petroleum products, that has the effect of triggering price rises on transportation, food and rents. That is for those who earn salaries, but there are many who are jobless and will be affected by it,” the President noted.
Buhari also said that the lack of security, sabotage, vandalism, corruption and mismanagement, not necessarily subsidies, are the most serious problems of Nigeria’s oil sector.
He promised to deal decisively with all identified problems of the oil and gas sector.
“We have to go back to the good old days of transparency and accountability,” the President said .
He directed the NNPC to review existing agreements for the swapping of crude oil for refined products with a view to injecting more honesty and transparency into the process to reduce costs.
The President also asked the NNPC management to do more to improve the supply of liquefied petroleum Gas (cooking gas).