The Federal Government has approved the sum of $21 million for a metering project aimed to promote effective monitoring of crude oil production and distribution in the country.
According to Heineken Lokpobiri, the minister of petroleum resources (oil) who disclosed this in a press briefing in Abuja on Friday, the development is part of the government’s effort to curb the issues of oil theft bedevilling the nation’s oil and gas sector.
He explained that the contract for the metering of 187 flow stations will be carried out across the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
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“The cost of the contract is about $21 million, you know, the oil and gas sector is transactions are in dollars. That is the cost of the contract as approved by Federal Executive Council, chaired by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. These are steps that have never been taken before by any previous government. But this government, because of our commitment to transparency and accountability, decided to.
“As part of our steps to ensure that we have proper accountability, the Federal Executive Council approves the metering of all our production. We have 187 flow stations in the country, metered across the Niger Delta area, and there was a contract awarded for us to meter all the flow stations so that we’ll be able to properly account for what we produce and what we export.
“It’s a major development that has never happened in this country. And this project is meant to be completed within six months, within 180 days. And it’s important that Nigerians know some of the key steps that this government is taking to ensure that we maximize opportunities that other countries are getting by the availability of oil and gas in Nigeria.
Read also:Nigeria at wits’ end as oil thieves overrun surveillance
He also disclosed that as part of the steps towards ensuring accountability in the sector, the government approved the advanced cargo, “which means we’re awarding a contract to a company that will provide the technology within 180 days, to enable us to know from the point of loading of every cargo of crude oil that’s loaded in Nigeria up to the point of destination. That’s why I call it advanced cargo.
The minister who maintained that not so much steps has been taking in the past to curb issues of oil theft, said that ” this is the time for us to take very, very major steps, so that we know from the beginning what we produce to the point of loading from our terminals up to the point of destination.”
“This is also to ensure that the database and control center are dedicated to tracking our crude oil export from the point of loading to the final point of sales in any part of the world that our crude oil may be sold,” he said.
Maintaining that revenues from the oil sector remains a huge part of government revenue, Lokpobiri said the contract would help ramp up production of crude oil and lead to increase in government revenue.
Speaking further, the minister said that the Tinubu-led administration has gained back the confidence of investors, which has led to the influx of investments.
“Let me also use the opportunity to also, you know, inform you that because of the confidence we’re enjoying now, Nigeria has just been awarded the hosting right for the African Energy Bank. One of the biggest challenges we have on the continent is accessing finance, to be able to finance oil and gas investment.
“But last Thursday, the 18 countries that make up the African Petroleum Producing organization, APPO, held a meeting and had to take a major decision as to which of the countries will host the Africa, you know, Energy Bank. And that is a bank that will start off with $5 billion.
“And the bank is projected to grow an asset base of $120 billion. That is over 30% of our GDP. This is one of the biggest achievements that this government has gotten,” he said
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