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Tag: Dr. Ibe Kachikwu

Kachikwu slams NNPC for petrol price hike

• 1.6b litres of petrol in stock

• Kachikwu scolds NNPC over N4 fuel price increase

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC,yesterday denied meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari to hike the pump price of petrol from N145 to N150 per litre.

It insisted that the price still remains within the N141 to N145 per litre band, adding that it has over 1.6 billion litres of petrol in stock that would last the country for the next 45 days.

The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Garba Deen Muhammad, said: “NNPC is not empowered statutorily to tinker with the pricing template of petroleum products as erroneously reported in some national dailies.”

Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has carpeted NNPC over the N4 increase in price of petrol sold at its mega-filling stations.

Speaking after receiving an award at an event organised by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) in Abuja, he said it was wrong for the oil firm to do so.

NNPC has been selling fuel at N141, but on November. 3, it jerked the price by N4 to match the government’s benchmark of N145.

Reacting, Kachikwu said: “First, I am not aware that the NNPC has increased price. I need to look into that. It is a bit of surprise for me, because there are processes in doing this. If they have done that, it means they are doing it wrongly. Let me find out what the facts are,” saying the increase could be as a result of foreign exchange differentiation.

He said there are areas within government controlled aspects, such as payments to the Ministry of Transportation and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) that were foreign currency denominated.

“Having said that, the reality is that what we did at the point where we did some liberalisation was to enable the free market float the price.

“Obviously, as you look at forex differentiations and all that, it would impact. The worst thing you could do is to go back to an era where we basically were fixing prices.

“What we ought to be doing was watching the prices, making sure that they are not taking advantage of the common man; making sure that the template is respected.

“One of the things I think we had hoped to do, which we should still do before we embark on any price increase, is to work on those templates.”

He, however, promised to discuss with industry operators.

“Those who are investing must be able to predict the pricing methodologies, the pricing consequences and the actions, so as to be able to justify their investments.

“At the end of the day, I think PPPRA is the one that has the authority to say it is time the template justified some level of movement, otherwise, you have a crisis of individual decisions on pricing,” he said.

Nonetheless, the NNPC said the price adjustment in its downstream facilities from N141 to N145 per litre was still within the price band of N135 and N145 per litre approved on 11th May this year by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the statutory body in charge of petroleum products pricing.

It assured marketers and motorists of its readiness to continue to play its statutory role of being the supplier of last resort and ensuring energy security for the nation, insisting that there was no time its management met with Buhari to push for a hike in the pump price of petrol to N150 per litre.

November 8, 2016
Minister says NNPC wrong on petrol price hike

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, says the recent N4 increase in the price of petrol in Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) filling stations, is wrong.

Kachikwu said this after receiving an award at an event organised by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) in Abuja on Sunday.

NNPC had been selling fuel at N141 but on Thursday, November 3 increased it by N4 to the government benchmark of N145.

”It is obviously humbling and too early in the day to receive an award and to be recognised so soon in some of the things we are trying to do. It is humbling, I thank them very much.

”First, I am not aware that the NNPC has increased the price. I need to look into that. It is a bit of surprise for me because there are processes in doing this if they have done that, it means they are doing it wrongly.

”Let me find out what the facts are,” he told newsmen.

Kachikwu said the increase could be as a result of foreign exchange differentiation.

He said there were areas within government controlled aspects like payments to the Ministry of Transport and the Nigerian Ports Authority that were foreign currency denominated.

”Having said that, the reality is that what we did at the point where we did some liberalisation, was to enable the free market float the price.

”Obviously, as you look at foreign exchange differentiations and all that, it would impact. The worst thing you could do is to go back to an era where we basically were fixing prices.

”What we ought to be doing was watching the prices, making sure that they are not taking advantage of the common man; making sure that the template is respected.

”One of the things I think we had hoped to do, which we should still do before we embark on any price increase is to work on those templates.”

He, however, promised to discuss with industry operators.

The minister said: ”those who are investing must be able to predict the pricing methodologies, the pricing consequences and the actions, to be able to justify their investments.

”At the end of the day, I think PPPRA is the one that has the authority to say it is time the template justified some level of movement.

”Otherwise, you have a crisis of individual decisions on pricing,” he said.

On the issue of insecurity in the Niger Delta, Kachikwu assured that President Muhammad Buhari was committed to finding lasting peace in that region.

November 7, 2016
Kachikwu to petroleum agencies: Develop self-funding mechanism

The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has urged parastatal agencies under the ministry to develop a roadmap for self-funding of their activities within the next three to four years.

A statement by Head of Press, Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) Kalu Otisi in Abuja on Tuesday, stated that Kachikwu gave the charge while inspecting PTDF’s upgraded projects in PTI Effurum Delta-State.

“The Federal Government is not going to continue to be sending you yearly disbursements in perpetuity.

“It’s never going to work, so a major challenge is to identify those areas where you will have a big commercial nexus both for the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry.”

According to the statement, facilities inspected by the minister included an ultra-modern laboratory complex, a one- stop laboratory for research and training in diverse areas of onshore and offshore operations.

Other projects are facilities for exploration, drilling and production provided by PTDF, a demonstration training land rig with flow station rehabilitated and made functional by PTDF and the latest drilling simulators, welding and mechanical workshops.

Kachikwu, accompanied by some senior officials of the ministry including the new Executive Secretary of PTDF, Dr. Bello Aliyu Gusau, commended the Fund for the rigorous implementation of its capacity building programmes.

“I am very impressed with what they have done. It’s actually one of the agencies that you don’t need to do an audit to see where their resources are being utilised.

“I have been to some of the projects done by PTDF; I was in the University of Nigeria Nsukka,

“I was in Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, and some other places where they have been able to make a huge difference; I am extremely impressed with the work that they have done in PTI too.”

He urged the Principal of the Petroleum Training Institute, Prof. Sunny Iyuke, to adopt a maintenance re-orientation for the training institute.

He said this would attract the kind of scholarship that would help to increase the revenue generation profile of the Institution

The PTDF is mandated by law to build capacities and capabilities in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry through the development of human capacities

It also ensures institutional capacity development and the promotion of research and acquisition of relevant technologies.

October 11, 2016
Buhari faults blackmail of senior government officials

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to discerning Nigerians to ignore orchestrated attempts to sully the integrity of ministers and other senior government officials, who are being tarred with the brush of corruption without any concrete evidence.

He was reacting to reports, particularly by online media, claiming that the immediate past Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and a Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, is being investigated over crude oil swap deals and gas liftings during his tenure as GMD of NNPC.

Buhari, in a statement by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, appealed for decent and civilized comments, particularly when it has to do with the integrity of those who are serving the country.

“Terrible and unfounded comments about other people’s integrity are not good. We are not going to spare anybody who soils his hands, but people should please wait till such individuals are indicted,” the President said.

He reiterated the administration’s commitment to probity, accountability and integrity, promising that transparency remained a watchword, which would never be trifled with.

July 19, 2016
Ngige, Kachikwu to meet with PENGASSAN over planned strike

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, is to meet with representatives of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) on Thursday, a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja said.

The statement, signed by Mr Samuel Olowookere, the Deputy Director (Press) in the ministry, said that the “crucial meeting’’ was being convened to find a lasting solution to the lingering problems in the oil and gas sector.

It said that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, would also participate in in the dialogue scheduled for 10 a.m. in Abuja.

NAN reports that PENGASSAN has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike beginning from Thursday over some issues, including the alleged mass sack of its members by various oil and gas companies.

July 6, 2016
Talk is cheap

Twice in two months, on two different days and on two different platforms, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Dr. Ibe Kachikwu said something many Nigerians would really like to accept as true. But it sounded too good to be true.

Kachikwu was on June 23 a guest speaker at the 10th Annual Business Law Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) in Abuja, with the theme: Law reform and economic development. He spoke on the sub-theme: Future prospects for the oil and gas industry.

He said something very important, which is that Nigeria would stop ridiculing itself and end fuel importation by 2019, less than three years away. Who believed him? The absurdity of an oil-rich country that imports fuel is so tragic that it has become comic. But who is crying and who is laughing?

Notably, Kachikwu said the country’s refineries were currently operating at about 40-50 per cent capacity, which was not good enough. He painted a picture of the problem with a chain of rhetorical questions: “How does a refinery work if the pipelines supplying them are out most of the year and so they can’t supply crude? You can’t refine an empty space. How does it work when you don’t do your turnaround maintenance or if when monies are budgeted for them they are diverted? How does it work if your contracting process is so long that you never meet the turnaround days you’re supposed to? How does it work when you send the wrong set of people with the wrong set of skills to what should have been very important portfolios in the establishment?”

It is noteworthy that a month earlier Kachikwu had said the Federal Government’s target was to stop fuel importation in 2019. The forum was an interactive session on removal of fuel subsidy organised by Coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Lagos. “I am putting so much strength in terms of what do we do with our refineries, because that ultimately is the solution,” he had declared.

Kachikwu had also said: “… the plan is that by December 2018 we should have reduced our importation of petroleum product by 60 per cent. This is because we would have brought enough money to get our refineries working to the tune of about 90 per cent.” Of course, a plan needs action for materialisation.

Repetition has its uses as well as its misuses. Merely repeating something that sounds good to the public is not the same thing as achieving something that makes the public feel good. Stopping fuel importation will need far more than mouthing repetitions.

July 6, 2016
Nigeria to end fuel importation in 2019- Kachikwu

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday said Nigeria would end fuel importation by 2019.

He said it requires $50billion dollars to fill the infrastructural gap in the industry and get it functioning optimally.

He said by 2019, Nigeria expects to become a net exporter of refined products, adding that an investment drive is ongoing to meet the infrastructure requirement.

Kachukwu was a guest speaker at the 10th Annual Business Law Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Business Law (NBA-SBL) in Abuja, with the theme: Law reform and economic development.

Speaking on the sub-theme: Future prospects for the oil and gas industry, the minister said the refineries are currently working at about 40-50 per cent capacity.

He said the aim is to get them working at 90 per cent capacity or more and build the needed infrastructure as investors come in.

On why refineries are working at low capacity, he said: “How does a refineries work if the pipelines supplying them are out most of the year and so they can’t supply crude? You can’t refine an empty space.

“How does it work when you don’t do your turnaround maintenance or if when monies are budgeted for them they are diverted? How does it work if your contracting process is so long that you never meet the turnaround days you’re supposed to? How does it work when you send the wrong set of people with the wrong set of skills to what should have been very important portfolios in the establishment?” he said.

The minister said engagements with militants in the Niger Delta has been successful, resulting in a ceaseful and rise in crude production.

He said he visited the creeks and met with the local chiefs with a view to finding a short, medium and long term solution to the crisis.

Kachukwu praised President Muhammadu Buhari for not employing force in solving the problem, adding that when he visited the creeks, the militants “never fired a gun” while he was there.

The minister said oil production has picked up as the Niger Delta crisis is being resolved.

According to him, 1.89million barrels was produced as at Wednesday. He said he expects it to hit 2.3million barrels by next month.

Kachikwu said reforms in the petroleum industry required “bold thinking to challenge the status quo”.

According to him, it required balancing interests of several groups with conflicting demands, some of which he said appeared valid.

He said: “The deregulation was a very bold thinking. Removal of subsidy was a bold thinking. Restructuring (the NNPC) was a bold thinking.

“We are working on a fairly fast-paced track where every month has a major new issue that we have to deal with.

“We’re looking at a template of two years in which to do so much in terms of changing this industry and recreating the opportunities that are inherent in the system.

“The greatest challenge for someone who is initiating policies is how to satisfy all the interest groups. It was why we couldn’t pass the PIB and in trying to get the militants to back out so we can have some peace in the place.

“Timing of reforms is key and should have been yesterday. In most of the areas we are far behind time and our competitors and that is basically why we’re in a virtual race position today. We need to do all this to be able to get to where we should be.”

On how the government is dealing with issue of militancy, Kachikwu said it is deploying a wholistic solution.

“The problem has been that most times when these things (pipeline bombings) happen, we find an interim solution that stabilises production for a while and then we drop off the table and it comes right back.

“There are lots of things that need to be done. In the short term is to stabilise the conversation so that some civility will replace adversarial norms.

“I think we’re getting very close to that. At least parties have pulled back for 30 days for more talks. Those 30 days are going to be a fire-engine type racing to do something.

“We need to set up, for example, a real engagement team that will be able to take up the larger stakeholders – the kings, the community leaders to clearly understand what they want and decide on the minimum standards of what is needed.

“We also need to set up a much more practical team that deals practically with the individuals who are out there exercising the mantra of militancy. We need to set up a body that focuses on the development of the Niger Delta.

“One of the reasons why I took time to fly into some of the creek areas wasn’t for publicity. It was to get a firsthand feel of what it is really like there. Once you get into an area where there are no roads, no light, no water, it’s a different mindset. And you need to spend time to understand that mindset.

“In the three of the locations that I visited, I could relate the villagers who are living there with the militants who are living next door in the forest and who were respectful enough not to fire guns while I was there.

“What it showed, as my father used to say, is that ‘mad men have rules of engagement.’ It doesn’t matter what you think of militants, they do the things they do because hopefully they have burning passions for the positions they take and we need to understand that kind of psychology.”

June 23, 2016
Nigerians in Diaspora lauds Buhari, Kachikwu on Petrol Pricing

The Nigerians in Diaspora Monitoring Group, has lauded President Muhammadu Buhari, for liberalizing petrol sales.

The group described the action as the beginning of economic rebirth for the country.

The group also said President Buhari and the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, have carved niches for themselves in Nigeria’s history and deserving laurels for daring to do the right thing.

A statement by the United Kingdom Coordinator of the group in Abuja, Adeka Onyilo, said: “The inherited rot that left Nigerians suffering on fuel queues was becoming an international embarrassment until President Buhari took the bull by the horn.

“The cartel that acquire FOREX from government under the guise of importing petrol only embark on round tripping has been severed from the supply chain and should leave the government with some money to invest in other sectors that will touch the lives of citizens across board.

“We however urged that the judicious and prudent management of the resources of Nigeria vested in the custody of the present government because this is important to the nation’s prosperity.”

It further urged President Buhari and Kachikwu, to ensure that Nigerians who now have to pay realistic prices for petrol are not short-changed by fraudulent marketers who tamper with their meter to under dispense the product.

“We further urge the Minister to enforce the price cap as reports indicate that some outlets still sell above the computed N145 per litre. Such development can only create the cover for those opposed to change to creep on the government and populace with another price hike or petrol scarcity citing the willingness of the people to pay more as excuse,” the group said in the statement.

May 25, 2016
Deregulation most difficult decision, says Kachikwu

The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday said the deregulation of the downstream oil sector was the most difficult decision ever made by the Federal Government, acknowledging that it has evoked passion.

He lamented that N8trillion was spent on fuel subsidy within five years to the benefit of a few, adding that the figure accounted for 60 per cent of the national budget. Kachikwu however said with deregulation, fuel importation for domestic consumption would end in 2019, following the full revival of the three local refineries.

However, he pointed out that the marketing of fuel has stabilised, stressing that the long queues have disappeared because hoarding has been tackled and activities of the filling stations at the borders encouraging the nefarious activity have been checked.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed urged Nigerians to show more understanding and support government’s efforts at restoring sanity into the sensitive sector.

He justified the difficult steps taken to reposition the sector, saying: “Government must be courageous to take decisions that may not be palatable today, but which have the prospects of restoring sanity.”

He said: “Nigeria has been addicted to oil, leaving other sources of revenue. We are in a difficult situation. When we were campaigning, the price of oil per barrel was $100. It creashed to $38 when we came in. We inherited a sick child, which we are now nurturing back to recovery.

“If a person has been taking cocaine for 16 years and you take him out for rehabilitation, he cannot be okay within a day.”

The two ministers spoke in Lagos during an interactive session with members of the civil society groups.

At the Lagos Airport Ikeja venue of the session were civil rights activists, including Comrade Debo Adeniran, Awa Bamiji, Femi Lawson, Uche Nwokocha, and Wale Okunniyi.

At the parley, Nwokocha lamented that Nigerians who voted for a government of change got high electricity tariff and N145 per litre of petrol as rewards.

Also, the civil society group said Nigerians were not consulted before the new price regime, adding that while they were enjoined by the government to make sacrifices, senators and ministers have refused to make sacrifices for the country.

Kachikwu, who explained the genesis of the deregulation, said the option was taken by the government as a last resort. He emphasised that difficult situations required difficult solutions.

The minister lamented that money voted for the turn around maintenance (TAM) of the refineries went down the drain under the previous administrations, adding that conscious efforts are being made to genuinely revive the ailing refineries.

Kachukwu decried the evil of subsidy, saying it was a vehicle for corruption.

He said: “Subsidy became a major vehicle for corruption. We owed marketers N600 billion. But, marketers could not find foreign exchange. The price of oil dropped from $100 per barrel to $40. Government’s earning dropped. Production declined because of sabotage and vandalism. There was lack of foreign exchange and the depletion of foreign reserves.

“Once there is a supply dynamics, people take the opportunity. There was the massive movement of the product outside Nigeria to make profit through a higher price. Scarcity persisted in Lagos because of diversion. 250 (trucks) was needed; 400 was supplied. But, scarcity persisted. Even when fuel was supplied to marketers at N75 per litre, people were buying at between N150 and N400.”

The minister explained that price modulation initially resulted into price reduction, following the decision to remove subsidy. He said N12 billion was saved between January and April, following the zero subsidy.

Explaining why subsidy was not included in this year’s budget, despite pressures from its beneficiaries, Kachikwu said: “$550 million was the government’s income in April. If there was subsidy, it would have gulped $500 million, which means $50 million would have been available to run the government.”

The minister said the fall in the oil price is a blessing in disguise, pointing out that Nigeria is now thinking about a nation without oil and beyond oil.

He said: “This has led to the need to revive the refineries. I am looking for investors to come on a joint venture platform. For the first time, the three refineries are working, but at 40 per cent capacity. If the refineries are maintained, they will work. The TAM has not worked because the money usually disappeared after signing the contract. In 2019, we will stop the importation of fuel. We will refine at home.”

May 24, 2016
Photo: Ambode at the National Economic Council

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, with Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje; his Ogun and Plateau States counterparts, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun and Barr. Simon Lalong during the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, on Thursday.

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, discussing with Governors of Kebbi, Ogun and Gombe States, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu; Sen. Ibikunle Amosun and Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo during the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja, on Thursday.

May 19, 2016