The Federal Government has secured investment worth $4 billion from 40 Chinese businessmen in the oil sector. The Chinese investors are expected in Nigeria next month. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu, who disclosed this yesterday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the presidential villa, said this was a fallout from the July roadshow in China where Nigeria signed a $75.6 bil-lion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in investment in the oil sector.
Kachikwu explained that the MOU signed during the roadshow gene ally has a gestation period of about one year within which both countries set up their teams on bilateral lines to look at specific areas of investment interests. “That is still work in progress, we are having a team of over 40 Chinese, members of some of those bodies about visiting Nigeria by the end of this month.
We are also setting up a full interministerial panel that will be deliberating with them for each of those sectoral investments,” the minister stated. He said that the Federal Government, during the roadshow, also received investment pledges from different Chinese private investors worth $70 billion. This amount, according to him, is different from those made when President Muhammadu Buhari visited China.
“That was an all-African type front basis; this is completely separate. I will say that the target we had while going to China was to raise $40 billion, which is the total cost of our infrastructural gap for the oil industry.
We raised about $75.6 billion, $69 billion of which were Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and government- related potential investments and loans and the rest directly to the private sector. If we get even 20 per cent of that, that will be a major achievement for us.
“I will say we have oneyear period to work on this. We expect that some will come earlier, there are some facility lines that are almost readily available close to about $3 or $4 billion, but the investment packages will take us time. Realise that this is different from the pledges that were made when the president visited China which was an all-African type front basis, this is completely separate,” the minister said.
The NNPC had, in July this year, embarked on a roadshow to China seeking investments to bridge the infrastructure funding gaps in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. Government subsequently announced the signing of MOUs with some Chinese companies worth over $50 billion for infrastructure development.
The corporation had, in its statement, listed companies involved in the deal to include China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO Group), China Cinda Asset Management Company Limited (CINDA), China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation/ Addax petroleum (SINOPEC/ADDAX), International Chamber of Commerce/ China’s National Development and Reform Commission (ICCNDRC), among others. Council also approved the resuscitation of the National Council on the Hydrocarbon, an ombudsman council that meets once a year to just review policies in the oil and gas sector.
The minister explained that the council is a gathering of people from the business, oil sector, oil communities and ministries that are directly or indirectly affected by the policies rolled out by the Petroleum Ministry.
“The criticality is that as we continue the dialogue we have been having with militants, creating such fora enables anybody who has an interest in the area, to converge and develop the thinking process that will guide policies in this sector,” he said.
Kachikwu said the Council also approved the hosting of an international flare reduction convergence meeting in Nigeria billed to hold on November 30th and December 1st. “We will use that as a chance to roll out efforts by the ministry to addressing the flare. You are aware Nigeria is next to Russia in terms of the highest flaring nation.
“Even though we have progressed positively to reduce 70 per cent of the flare, but the 30 per cent we still flare, is about 10 per cent of the world’s flare. So, it is a huge amount of gas,” the minister added.
