From Uche Usim, Abuja and Adewale Sanyaolu
The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday disclosed that a major restructuring exercise that will affect all the parastatals under his Ministry was underway.
The Minister, who stated this on Monday in a podcast message where he reeled out government’s future plans for the petroleum sector, emphasised the need to heal some of the parastatals of gross inefficiency and corporate inertia due to their heavy reliance on government’s funding by making them trim, fit and self sustaining.
“Parastatal and agency restructuring is going on very massively. We did that of NNPC before I left. It is continuing. But we are facing the other parastatals to make them more efficient, more profitable and more focused. With that, we come to the exit of some of them from federal budgeting because then, they will be able to stand on their own feet, provide for themselves and be able to run their shots”, he explained.
Aside the NNPC, other parastatals under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources that will be affected in the impending restructuring are: the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Training Institute (PTI), Petroleum Technical Development Fund (PTDF), the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), the Petroleum Product Price Regulatory Agency (PPRA) and the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB).
On Niger Delta, Kachikwu said the Federal Government will next week, resume talks with the governors and leaders in a bid to address all issues relating to oil and gas activities.
The Minister said the resumption of talks with Niger Delta governors and its leaders was a follow- up to earlier visits in the region led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, adding that this latest visit will include the development of robust Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Government, oil companies and the Niger Delta community.
He explained that the visit is to put finishing touches to some of the earlier promises made and seal how such could be codified into a MoU that would subsequently serve as a working document for the development of the Niger Delta region.
He said government would be working to ensure that oil production is sustained at 2 million barrels per day (bpd) or more, subject to approvals from Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) while also ensuring the completion of all infrastructures that would support the delivery of oil production target.
On plans for 2018, he said the resuscitation of the nation’s ailing refineries remained a priority for government as it remained committed to ending fuel importation by 2019, stressing that about 30 percent FX application for fuel imports must be saved.
He said infrastructure that would ensure that all these deliverables are met must be put in place, even as he lamented the already ageing infrastructures built over 40 years must be replaced; and called for private sector support.
And to achieve the feat, he said the Ministry and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), NNPC and local content groups would be working together to ensure that policies are put in place to encourage the involvement of the private sector in infrastructure financing.
He said Government is set to launch its infrastructure map rebirth to bring in people to invest in pipelines and depots development and open up the industry for expansion.