OIL PRODUCTION: FG puts the cost at $10 per barrel in Nigeria, seeks IOCs, others cooperation
The Federal Government has set $10 or less per barrel as the cost of oil production in Nigeria.
Speaking at the launch of the Nigerian Upstream Cost Optimisation Programme, NUCOP in Abuja, Nigeria, the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said: “Today’s engagement with industry stakeholders, under the NUCOP, is part of the resolve of this administration to confront this challenge of high production cost. I expect robust discussions and a realistic roadmap to achieve the cost optimization objectives”.
Also speaking, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari urged stakeholders to jointly work toward achieving the target.
He said: “It is in our informed interest to optimize our cost of production. The realities of energy transition and investor, choices are very much clear to us. There is nowhere in this world where a less cost-efficient operator can survive today”.
The Chairman, Senate Committee Upstream, Senator Bassey Akpan, said the 9th National Assembly would pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to provide a conducive environment for all operators in line with global best practices.
However, the leaders of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPEG, said while they support the initiative for cost reduction, such must not lead to cuts in wages and salaries.
PENGASSAN President, Festus Osifo pointed out that currently, their members earn less than what they earned 10 years ago compared to what expatriate workers were going home due to the devaluation of the Naira.
