• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Buhari summoned Minister, NNPC boss  over global oil crisis- Presidency Sources

President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday met behind closed doors with Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mela Kyari, against the backdrop of current global crises and its impact on the oil and gas sector.

Although both top government officials refused to disclose details of the meetings, Villa sources said discussions might have centred on the fallout of the current tensions between the US and Iran and the likely implications on crude oil prices.

Nigeria and other oil producing countries are already harvesting the fallout of the crises with Brent crude, already recording an increase of 2.4 per cent in price in the past days, rising to $70.24/barrel as of Tuesday.

The meeting which was at the instance of President Buhari, who is also Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, was used to review current state in the global oil sector, according to inside sources

It was further revealed that recent changes in global oil prices were mentioned, especially on how they would rub off on the funding of the 2020 budget of N10.59trillion, as the National Assembly fixed $57 per barrel as the benchmark for the 2020 budget estimates.

 “You know that crude oil remains the major source funding the budget, so, what ever affect oil is taken seriously,” one official told BusinessDay.
“Yes, a meeting between Sylva and the President today may not exclude oil prices, in view of the latest developments and the implications on prices for oil-dependent economies like ours”, the official added.

The official added t at heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies such as the central bank governor, and ministers, including that of Finance, Budget and National  Planning, had also been holding routine meetings with the President, to keep him abreast of the developments.