Lokpobiri, Ekpo Resume At Petroleum Ministry, Vow To Raise Oil Output, Maximise CNG Use

The Minister of State Petroleum Resources (oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has vowed to raise crude oil production output to meet Nigeria’s quota.

This is as his counterpart for Gas, Ekperikpo Ekpo, promised to maximise the use of Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources to reduce the cost of transportation.

The two ministers spoke at the inaugural meeting with the heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies under their purview in Abuja.

Lokpobiri, who pledged to work hard to increase the production of crude oil on a sustainable basis, said he was ready to go to the creeks to attain the desired result in the sector.

The minister, who described himself as a creek boy, stressed that he would not spend much time sitting in the office.

Lokpobiri said: “I have too much energy. I have come here to utilise the energy to revamp the sector. I am here to work with the agencies to increase production on a sustainable basis.

“Even if you speak grammar from now to tomorrow you don’t increase production, you have achieved nothing. You are the experts.

“I am not going to spend more time in the office. I am going to spend more time in the fields so that we can achieve results. I don’t want to be told stories so that we can achieve the result.”

In the same vein, the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Gas) Ekpo, said the ministry would work hard to maximise the utilisation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) for power infrastructure in order to reduce the cost of transportation.

Ekpo said that owing to the removal of the PMS subsidy, the task of providing alternatives now falls on the ministry.

He pledged his commitment to ensuring that together with the heads of MDAs, “we will deliver on this task of building a sustainable gas utilisation framework for the development of the requisite infrastructure for Nigerians.”

He noted that Nigeria’s proven natural gas reserve blesses the country as one of the nations with the greatest gas reserve globally.

Ekpoh said that it was certain that using the gas reserves could stimulate the domestic economy.

He added that patronising the domestic utilisation of gas will support hundreds of thousands of jobs for the growth of the economy.

According to him, it was the task of the ministry to work hard to translate the potential to reality for the economic advancement of Nigeria.

On CNG, he said, “With the removal of fuel subsidy, the responsibility of providing a sustainable alternative to PMS falls on us in the ministry.

“In line with the just approved Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, and as an immediate short-term strategy, you will maximise the utilisation of Compressed Natural Gas in the sector and later improve installation, expansion and use in association for power generation infrastructure.”

In his comments, the permanent secretary of Petroleum Resources Ministry, Gabriel Aduda, said there was an urgent need to ramp up production.