The Federal Government of Nigeria has confirmed that there will be a call for expression of interest in marginal fields by companies next year.
The Ministry of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said at the presentation of the report on “New Nigeria Oil &Gas Framework and Policy” in Abuja on Thursday that prior to the exercise, the marginal field policy would have come into force.
Kachikwu also spoke on the clamour for the establishment of modular refineries, expressing concerns that the rate of gas flaring in the country may rise.
He said: “Modular refineries will worsen our flare. We have to use economics of scale. If we have many refineries they will accentuate problems. So we will have to control them.”
The NNPC, said the minister, will ensure that the Niger Delta gets micro businesses to do as the government is keen about providing a business friendly environment.
He revealed that there will be a critical legislation to make gas independent of government subsidy, which has caused significant loss of revenue from the product.
Kachikwu added that “we want to make sure that gas can economically stand on its own.”
He said that in the new scheme of things, government intervention in the petroleum sector will focus on developing entrepreneurs in the country to discourage “sharing money that distort political discourse and value system.”
