Dr Ibe Kachikwu and Maikanti Baru met to discuss future of Nigeria's oil sector. Both of them spoke on the potentials in the growing oil sector The minister of state of petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu and the group managing director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru met to discuss the future of the country’s petroleum industry.
The duo has been involved in a public debacle following a leaked memo written by the minister in which he accused Baru of insubordination. It was reported that they met on Tuesday, October 10 at the ongoing Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, at the Energy Policy Committee breakout session.
Baru was already at the session when Kachikwu walked in and the former stood up to chat with the minister. It was reported that they discussed how the country's oil sector can be pushed forward noting that there was so much opportunities in it.
The minister briefly left and was represented by Baru and returned a few minutes later to chair the session with the NNPC boss. Kachikwu who spoke about the potentials in the country’s oil sector said they were growing everyday. He said the “operating environment is tough” but that the “Federal Government was looking at areas where it can provide incentives to boost returns for investors, so as to attract more investors into the industry.
He noted that “companies that had suspended their big ticket projects are beginning to look at the potentials of reviving the projects and are set to take Final Investment Decision”
Baru spoke about the opportunities in the forthcoming marginal oil fields bid round, saying that “the successful completion of the process would present a veritable opportunity for Nigeria to grow its crude oil output and create employment.”
Baru again reacted to allegations of corruption and insubordination raised against him by Kachikwu. In his second response in two days, Baru said he did no wrong and repeated his argument that the NNPC board chaired by Kachikwu had no powers to regulate or approve contracts awarded by the state oil company.
No comments:
Post a Comment