The Minister
of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has allayed fears that the
marginal fall in the prices of crude oil would impact negatively on the
nation’s
economy in the short-term.
Speaking in
Abuja yesterday on the state of refineries and the possible impact of the fall
in oil prices on the economy, he ruled out absolute sale of the three
refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.
He argued
that the slight fall in crude oil prices was not an indication of failure of
the measures put in place to prevent supply glut.
His words:
“I think the Organisation of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) has taken some
major steps to ensure that there is supply glut. The steps taken to mitigate
the effect of shale oil are not large enough to also check its glut.
“I am
worried that the prices are falling a bit. But not too worried because we know
that the downward movement in the price of oil is momentary.”
Kachikwu,
who blamed market instability on speculations by marketers, said the trend was
a sign for Nigeria and other oil producing countries to begin to refine their
crude oil in their countries rather than continue exporting crude.
“The
inconsistency we are witnessing is caused largely by speculations by marketers
and not that the fundamentals are solely responsible. OPEC members and
non-members like Russia are working closely to ensure that that excess supply
of shale is checkmated and the price should rebound very soon.”
“The
Nigerian economy is not under any threat for now. The future is to focus on its
refineries and increase capacity to refine crude oil within the country. That
is what Nigeria should do, going forward,” he added.
Kachikwu
also hinted that the country required about $1.4 trillion to repair the three
refineries just as he ruled out total sale of the assets.
He said that
Nigeria’s efforts were already yielding results in its search for financiers
for the refineries but added that no financier has been selected just yet.
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