The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari, has said that international investors are losing confidence in the Nigeria oil industry, especially in the upstream sector.
NNPC boss said that growth in the industry is being inhibited by lack of stable fiscal environment in the country. He said Nigeria need to have stable laws and a friendly business environment that can guarantee cost recovery and a decent return on investment for investors.
He noted that the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill has led to the recent divestments from the country.
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Kyari said this while hosting the members of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), who were on an oversight visit to the corporation recently, according to Punch report.
He said there is a need for an urgent action to address the loss of foreign investors’ confidence in the country’s oil and gas industry.
He said “international investors were losing confidence in the nation’s oil and gas industry” and urged the lawmakers to act fast and arrest the situation.
His suggestion
Kyari said that getting the Petroleum Industry Bill to work is the only way to move from the current unstable situation to a stable one.
“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 to work so that countries and investors can work with us,” the NNPC boss said.
He also said that NNPC’s improved transparency has positively affected its business fortunes and creditworthiness “as lenders are now willing to grant credit to it.”
Written by;
Ifunanya Ikueze
