Diezani Allison-Madueke, Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum. [Photo: ynaija.com]
The recent spate of asset divestments by IOCs operating in Nigeria is a positive trend, the Petroleum Minister said.
Nigerian operators in the country’s oil and gas industry must brace up to take over asset that multinational oil companies have divested from, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has said.
The Minister was speaking at an investment luncheon organized by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria, PETAN, during the recent Offshore Technology Conference in Houston, Texas.
Ms. Alison-Madueke was represented by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Andrew Yakubu.
She said contrary to the apprehension in some quarters that the recent spate of asset divestments by IOCs operating in Nigeria could create crisis in the oil and gas industry, the trend is actually positive.
The Minister said rather than result in crisis, the divested asset provide opportunity for indigenous oil and gas companies to become active players in the upstream sub-sector of the industry.
She said that with the divestments, indigenous oil and gas companies now have opportunity to acquire the asset being divested as springboard for the development of local capacity.
Speaking on “Assets divestments in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry: Opportunities and Challenges”, the minister said, “Let me allay your fears that the spate of divestments would not lead to crisis in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
“Rather the divestment by the majors is changing the onshore corporate landscape and creating material brownfield opportunities for upstream players looking to enter the Nigerian upstream space.”
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