Today (1st June, 2021), the Ministry of Petroleum Resources at the Ball Room of the Frazier Suite, Abuja, engaged stakeholders from the public, Private and other organizations to deliberate on a draft strategy to safeguard the long term interest of Nigeria in energy sufficiency.
In his opening remark at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mr Bitrus Bako Nabasu, mni, stated ‘that part of the government’s priorities is in the area of increasing local refineries of crude oil to meet domestic demand in addition to transforming Nigeria from a net importer of petroleum products to a net explorer’.
Speaking further, he added that, under his leadership a committee was set-up on 6th November, 2020 to deliberate and fashion out its continental energy leadership position. The committee which relied on the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Reports of 2019 as it relates to Nigeria and other African countries, submitted an interim report to the Honorable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, whose approval the Permanent Secretary said, subjected the report to a wider stakeholders review in order to enrich the strategies.
Mr. Nabasu encouraged participants to subject the draft strategy to intense scrutiny with a view to make Nigeria not only the petroleum refinery hub in the West African Sub Region but the entire African continent.
The Director Upstream, Engineer Kamoru Busari, in his welcome address, said the event was for participants to brainstorm on the interim report submitted to the Honorable Minister, on how Nigeria can set up a petroleum refining hub in Nigeria. Engineer Busari, later made a presentation on ‘Strategic Initiatives.’
Participants broke into syndicates and deliberated on the following topics, Nigeria‘s Aspirations, Opportunities and Competitive Advantage, Policy and Regulation, Infrastructural Development, Capacity Building and Security.
Enefaa Bob-Manuel
Deputy Director (Information)
