The Nigerian government says it is targeting at least 60% drop in importation of petroleum products by 2018 and export increase by 2019.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, told a gathering in Lagos that current reforms initiated by the government would ensure the reduction in importation and subsequently position the country for net export by 2019.
The Minister, who announced the planned reduction in importation in Lagos on Monday at the 10th Oil Trading and Logistics Africa Downstream Expo, was represented by his Senior Technical Adviser on Upstream and Gas, Mr Gbite Adeniji.
He, however, says there is need to fully liberalise and deregulate the midstream and downstream sub-sectors in a way that the open market prices of petroleum products would be cost-reflective and market-driven.
Dr Kachikwu also called for a strong independent regulator to monitor activities in the sub-sector, whose role is not price-setting, but to develop and enforce open, fair and transparent rules in the downstream oil and gas sector.
Share this:
