TheCable

Heineken Lokpobiri, the new minister of state (oil), petroleum resources, has assured Nigerians of increased oil production on a sustainable basis.

Lokpobiri gave the assurance in Abuja on Monday while addressing stakeholders on his assumption of duty, shortly after taking his oath of office.

In the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) Africa output ranking, Nigeria dropped two places to third position — behind Lybia and Angola — as oil production declined to 1.081 million barrels per day (bpd) in July 2023.

Lokpobiri said his main purpose was to revamp the oil sector and increase production.

“I have got more energy, and I have come to utilise that energy to revamp the petroleum sector,” the new minister said.

“I am here with one agenda, which is to increase oil production and in order to increase it, we need to work together to achieve the desired results.

“I am here to provide the leadership so that we can go to the Creeks and resolve all the problems.”

On his part, Ekperipe Ekpo, minister of state (gas), petroleum resources, expressed gratitude to the President for finding him and others worthy to serve.

He promised to be committed to a sustainable gas requisite framework, and the development of gas infrastructure for the benefit of Nigerians.

Ekpo said Nigeria’s proven natural gas reserves positioned the nation as one of the countries with the greatest reserves, and harnessing the gas resources would stimulate the domestic economy, gas utilisation, and support thousands of jobs for economic growth.

He said with the removal of the petrol subsidy, ‘the enormous responsibility of providing alternative to fuel rests on the ministry’.

“This will support the economy in many ways, including scaling down cost of transportation which will cause multiplier effects, lower food cost and reverse inflationary trend leading to measurable improvement in living conditions of Nigerians,” Ekpo said.

The minister said the post-COVID era and the current Russian-Ukraine war have caused imbalances in the global gas industry.

He said in the next few months, he would be receiving briefings from relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) with the view to ascertaining the actual status of Nigeria’s gas exploration and utilisation, state of infrastructure delivery, level of access and projects within the gas industry.

Ekpo, therefore, urged the national assembly to grant the ministry the needed legislative support to achieve the responsibilities set before it.