TheCable

Ibe Kachickwu, minister of state petroleum resources, on Tuesday said in the next few days, the federal government will unveil new policy to address the problem of fuel subsidy in the country.

Kachickwu said at the town hall meeting in Kaduna that the introduction of “price modulation” had helped to stabilise the problem.

The minister, however, said that it was necessary for the country’s oil sector to reflect global pricing of the product.

“We are coming up with a policy in the next few days that will allow us develop the price modulation that allow us swing our price along with international pricing,” he said.

“We are now transiting into fuel modulating pricing because we do not have sufficient foreign exchange to continue fuel importation we have been doing.

“Therefore, NNPC has to produce about 100 per cent of the product, that is the cause of the scarcity.”

He said the NNPC did not also have the logistics and coverage for effective distribution of the product.

Kachikwu said there was no budgetary allocation for fuel subsidy in the 2016 budget.

“The federal government struggled to offset about N600 billion subsidy balance when the administration came into power,” he said.

On the uncompleted Petroleum Institute in Kaduna, he said that the ministry had created a skill learning department to coordinate staff training and the running of its specialised centres in Warri, Lagos and Kaduna.

He added that the department would provide research and training skills needed for effective refining and other services in the oil sector.

Kachikwu said the Kaduna Institute was programmed to provide skills to HND graduates in refining and solar energy to prepare them for hiring in the oil industry.

On oil exploration in the north, he said the government had invited investors to explore oil in the region.

“I am one of those who believe that with modern technology, oil and gas exist in every part of Nigeria,” he said, revealing that research conducted in the last six months had revealed that there is oil and gas in the north.

“We are putting a lot of investment and we are inviting people to invest money. We have set up a department which is doing three things for the north.”

“First, we are going bullishly and trying to find oil and it is in our own interest, especially given the problems we find with pipelines.

“We are focusing on clean energy, solar; we should be able to provide sufficient solar energy in the northern part of this country.

“We are putting a concept of partnership in oil. Every system has a relationship with oil in different perspectives.

“The programme is building 700 marketing outlets all over the country with one per local government, we are asking the state government to co-venture with us and give land to do this.”