The oil and gas sector might not attract the needed foreign direct investments (FDIs) except the country reviews its regulatory framework, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said yesterday.
Its Group Managing Director (GMD), Mele Kyari, told lawmakers, who visited him in his office in Abuja, that the absence of a stable fiscal environment was a limiting factor to the growth of the industry, especially the upstream sector.
He said international investors were losing confidence in the industry, urging the legislators to arrest the situation.
“We need to act quickly to move from this unstable situation to a very stable one, and the only way is for us to get the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to work so that countries and investors can work with us,” the GMD stated.
Kyari stressed that foreign capital was needed in the upstream sector, adding that the only way to attract such was to have stable laws and a friendly business environment that guarantees cost recovery returns on investments.
He submitted that the lack of a known framework was responsible for the divestments in the recent past. The GMD noted that the entrenchment of transparency in the corporation had improved its fortunes and creditworthiness, as lenders are now willing to grant it facilities.
One of the parliamentarians, Musa Sarki Adar, pledged their support for NNPC to discharge its duties creditably. Also, Managing Director of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Mansur Sambo, said the company had increased its gas production to 860mmscf/d, making it the largest supplier of the product to the domestic market.
