Kachikwu Laments Under-development Of Nigeria’s Oil Industry

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has decried the state of the nation’s oil and gas industry, which he described as under-developed.

Kachikwu lamented that crude oil production in the country had been hovering around 1.9 million barrels per day and two million bpd over the past few years.

He spoke at the Nigeria Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on Thursday where stakeholders examined how to maximise investments in the oil and gas industry for the benefit of Nigerians.

The minister, while delivering his keynote address, highlighted some of the achievements recorded in the past few years and left the audience with several posers.

He asked, “Why is it that we continue to be under-developed in the oil and gas sector? Our production continues to hover around 1.9 million bpd and two million bpd. Why have we not been able to lead investors and producers that are operating across Africa? Why are we not taking over from the multinationals, which have been here for over 50 years?

“Why have we continued to accommodate decaying infrastructure including pipelines and refineries? Why are we today facing the threat of divestment by some multinationals? Why are we shy of bold policies? Why are oil-producing communities left feeling disenfranchised, not taken along and under-developed? Why are we shy of resource development?”

The minister noted that the country had not made the most of its oil and gas resources over the years.

He said, “We should be producing over four million bpd of crude oil. We should be producing enough gas for power generation. We should have a rapidly developing infrastructure.

“Something is fundamentally wrong in what we are doing. There is a need for us to move. Oil is going to become a fast-degenerating asset.”