President Muhammadu Buhari today vowed to ensure adequate protection of oil and gas installations across the country to prevent vandalism, oil theft and piracy.
“It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to secure the environment. The vandalism of oil installations and pipelines, piracy, oil theft and the fall in the international price of oil have made our economic situation very disturbing,” Buhari said at separate meetings with delegations from Exxon-Mobil and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company (NLNG) at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He promised the removal of bureaucratic bottlenecks created by multiple government agencies that currently impede the operations of companies in the oil and gas sector. He added that his administration will undertake appropriate reforms and implement fresh policies to boost national income from oil and gas production.
“This government will do all within its powers to secure the environment and encourage more investments in the oil sector,” Buhari said.
Speaking with the NLNG delegation, Buhari vowed to expand the total production capacity of the company, just as he regretted that political squabbles and interference in the past had prevented it from attaining its full potentials.
“Today, we are celebrating six trains. It could have been 12 trains if all had gone according to plan,” President Buhari said.
The NLNG delegation included the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr Joseph Dawha and the Managing Director of NLNG, Mr. Babs Omotowa while Exxon-Mobil delegation was led by its Managing Director, Mr Nolan O’Neal.
Fresh policies are exactly what the oil sector needs. The PIB is still the best we have at the moment, but anything that will rejuvenate the industry is a good thing.