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Minister threatens to cancel modular refineries' agreements

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Senator Heineken Lokpobiri yesterday threatened to cancel modular refineries agreements should they fail to meet key performance index.

According to him, he signed the agreements without knowing the owners of the plants and he would not hesitate to cancel them notwithstanding those promoting them.

He said: "Let me say here that I have signed a couple of modular refineries without knowing the men behind them.

"I don't want to know who the owner is.  As I don't know who is the owner of the license so I don't want to know the owner before I cancel it."

He spoke at the "The Oil and Gas Sector Retreat 2024," in Abuja. The theme was "Building Synergy for the Enhanced Development in the Oil and Gas Sector."

The minister said the first target of the ministry is to ramp up production to meet national target and increase in revenue.

Lokpobiri noted that it will be very embarrassing to Nigeria to complete the rehabilitation of national refineries without having crude oil for their production.

 Stressing the need to ramp up crude oil production, he said 90% of forex into the country comes from oil and gas production.

He however expressed hope that Nigeria might surpass its production quota as Bonga Oil Field operated by Shell Petroleum Development Company has recorded $5billion project.

Similarly, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas) Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo threatened to sanction any Chief Executive Officer that will ever fail to honour his invitation and send a subordinate.

He was referring to the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Executive Secretary, Engr. Omashola Ogbe who sent a director to represent him at the retreat.

All other Chief Executive Officers under the ministry were present except that of the board.

Ekpo said: "It is better the heads of those institutions are here then translate this irrespective of whatsoever they are doing in their various ...

"Please any other time if we are doing something under the name of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources try and every person must be here. It is a serious business.

"It is about moving Nigeria from where it is now to another level and there is no other ministry that can take Nigeria from where we are to another level except Ministry of Petroleum Resources."

He said the retreat on ministerial deliverables 2023 - 2027 was aimed at repositioning the hydrocarbon sector for optimal performance, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to Unlock our abundant Gas Resources for economic development.

Ekpo said following the conclusion of the Presidential Retreat, a pivotal step was taken within the sector, culminating in the signing of a Performance Bond with Mr. President. Subsequently, it became incumbent upon the ministry to disseminate the directive to the upper echelons of management within the sector.

Continuing, he said: "Let me also inform you that last month, I took the initiative to engage with both Operators and Regulators within our sector.

"This proactive approach is aimed at devising viable solutions to address the challenges plaguing our nation's gas sector.

"To further promote ease of doing business and to stimulate the discovery and development of our abundant hydrocarbon resource, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu - GCF, issued an executive order for the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. The Executive order sought to do the following:

"Shortening the procedure for getting approval for contracts to which companies in the petroleum sector and companies controlled by the federal government are parties;

"Raising the contract approval thresholds in Production Sharing Contracts (PSA) or Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) to not less than $10,000,000 to account for the rate of inflation;

"Raising the duration for third party contracts from three to five years, with the option of renewal for an additional two years; and Giving effect to and reinforcing the provisions of the Business Facilitation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2022 and enhance the ease of doing business within the petroleum sector."