Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mele Kyari, says the absence of a stable fiscal environment is inhibiting the growth of the Nigerian petroleum industry.
He stated that the worst hit is the upstream sector.
Kyari spoke when he received the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream).
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He said international investors were losing confidence in the nation’s oil and gas industry and urged the lawmakers to act fast.
“We need to act quickly to move from this unstable situation to a very stable one and the only way is for us to get the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to work so that countries and investors can work with us,” the GMD said.
Kyari stressed that foreign capital was needed in the upstream sector and that the only way to attract it was to have stable laws and a friendly business environment.
He noted that this would guarantee cost recovery and a decent return on investment for investors.
The NNPC head disclosed that the uncertainty in the sector created by the long delay in the passage of the PIB has led to a number of divestments from the country in the recent past.
Kyari added that the move by the management of NNPC to entrench the culture of transparency in the Corporation has improved its business fortunes and credit worthiness as lenders are now willing to grant credit to it.
