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The newly-appointed group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Emmanuel Kachikwu, has made a move for the deregulation of Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. It would be recalled that the past administration of Goodluck Jonathan had made efforts to carry out the deregulation; it would seem the whole thing is finally seeing the light of day.

 The NNPC GMD, who was recently appointed by president Muhammadu Buhari, made this call on Thursday, at the 2015 National Association of Energy Correspondents conference, that was held in Lagos.

Our correspondence has it on good authority that the NNPC boss, represented by Bolanle Ashafa, the Acting Managing Director of Nigeria Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO), revealed the importance and significance of deregulation to the Nigerian economy, while noting that it would encourage domestic private sector participation and inflow of foreign investments.

Ashafa revealed to our correspondence that implementation of the policy will entrench efficiency in product usage, product availability and effective competition among investors, hence ending products shortage and bringing about more stability to the Nigerian economy. He added that critical enablers such as security of supply and distribution infrastructure must be assured to guarantee the availability of the petroleum products at affordable prices for everyone.

He stated further that the corporation was fully committed to reforming existing refineries, to boost domestic petroleum products supply, adding also that the refineries had been re-streamed, but were yet to attain optimal capacity in production as desired by the Nigerian government. He said Nigeria might not have gotten there yet, but the country is on track.

According to him: “removal of price control mechanisms is deemed imperative to ensure full growth of the sub-sector, by allowing private stakeholders to complement the effort of government in developing the industry.”

While reassuring Nigerians that NNPC would continue to maintain stability in the supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide, he averred that the Nigerian oil and gas industry would be transformed for greater efficiency and sustainable growth, through market reforms, diversification of the revenue base and monetisation of the natural gas resources. He however admitted that the process will be a long one, but was quick to add that it would soon be a reality once all modalities are perfectly put in place.

He went further by saying they will focus on the need to address infrastructure constraints, to ensure sustainability of gas and petroleum products supply and distribution nationwide. He said they would be tackling infrastructure gaps and promoting inclusive growth, as well as capacity building.

Only yesterday, the Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Petroleum Development Company, Austin Avuru, revealed that Nigeria would be refining 1.2 million barrels of crude oil daily by year 2020. Lots of similar promises had been made in the past and they had not been fulfilled, unfortunately. It is only hoped that this new promise will actually become a reality. Nigeria presently does not refine a great bulk of her crude oil, as the country only trades out the crude oil and spend money to buy the refined product.