NNPCL has assured that the economy would be recovered from the woods in no time.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have disclosed that the ailing economy is getting revitalised based on emerging indicators.
This was revealed on Monday at an interactive session of the national assembly joint committee on finance chaired by Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger East). Critical stakeholders including the ministers of finance, Wale Edun, budget and national planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, minister of state (petroleum), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Group Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari and the Governor of the CBN, Yemi Cardoso were all present.
Speaking to the committee during the interactive session, the NNPCL boss said that Nigeria will be a net exporter of petroleum by December of this year, based on new indications in the energy and gas sector. He cited the following refineries as indicators: the Kaduna refinery, which will begin operations by December of this year; the Warri refinery will follow months later; and the Port Harcourt refinery, which will begin operations early next month. According to him, all the necessary conditions will be met in a few months for the nation to produce two million barrels of oil per day.
He said, “Mr. Chairman and members of the joint committee; let me just give confirmation that NNPCL and the oil and gas industry is very critical in bringing a turnaround in our current economic situation, and we understand the importance of this. We are taking every step that is practical for us to achieve this.
“We have already seen growth in our oil and gas production because of certain actions that Mr. President personally took, and also the very mere truth that we have also declared a war on production activities, and this is yielding the required results.
“The combination of these two has now seen us restoring production in our country, and we believe that we will soon hit the target of 2 million barrels oil production per day. I’m aware that there are several comments in the public space around refining business and domestic production, including production that will come from the commissioned Dangote refinery.
“Yes, this country, as we have said, will be a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of this year..
“We’re very optimistic that by December, this country will be a net exporter. That means a combination of production coming from us, and also from Dangote refinery and other smaller producing companies that we know are in line to do this. So I can confirm to you, Mr. Chairman, that by the end of the year, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum products.
“Specific to NNPC refineries, it is impossible to have the Kaduna refinery come to operation before December, it will get to December. Both Warri and Kaduna but that of Portharcourt, will commence production early August this year,” he said.
The CBN Governor, represented by the Deputy Governor (Economic Policy) Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, stated that the three main issues- rising inflation, swings in foreign exchange rates, and food inflation would begin to decline soon.
In order to prevent future economic disruptions, Sen. Bagudu stated that the 2024 budget is already being implemented and that negotiations over the minimum wage are still ongoing with labour leaders.
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On his part, Senator Sani Musa, urged Nigerians to endure, saying that the government is working nonstop to fix the economy. He said: “Our critical interactive session with you as managers of the economy is about economic growth. It’s about how we can get our policies to work. How we will support Nigerians.
“The National Assembly is very concerned because we are the representatives of the people. And we are obliged to ask what is happening. And this is the reason for the meeting. At least you have given us preambles of the activities going on. On how our economy can get back to track.
“You are all aware of the obstructions our economy has had in the previous years and it’s not going to be easy that overnight, in 365 days or in one year of the coming administration, things will change. It will be gradual and I believe that Nigerians will persevere. This is the only time we can all come together as Nigerians to give His Excellency the President, all the needed support. In order to get us out of all the trouble we have been in.
“The indicators are showing that the economy is doing well. The only thing is that things are a bit difficult because it’s not easy for an inflation that has gone up to go down like that. It takes time,” he added.
STAR Check: Nigerians, particularly, constituents of Niger East district, can keep tabs on the legislative performance of Sen. Musa throughout the 10th senate here.
