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• Says fuel subsidy on course
From Adetutu Folasade-Koyi and Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
Special Adviser to the President on Energy, Mrs Olu Verheijen yesterday said the administration of President Bola Tinubu opted for fiscal incentives in the oil and gas sector to attract investments.She also said the government was seeking ways to grow revenue and foreign exchange to stabilise the economy and currency. She noted that enhanced security measures in the Niger Delta has led to increase in liquids of over 200,000 barrels per day over the last six months. She said the stability in the oil producing areas has increased the availability of NLNG Trains 1-6 from 57% in 2023 to 70% in Q1 2024. She said the President has also directed that the contracting and project delivery timelines in the oil and gas sector be reduced from 36 months to six months. But she said the removal of fuel subsidy was still on course.
She said: “We are faced with a revenue crisis which is impacting all Nigerians. To urgently address this, President Bola Tinubu is actively seeking ways to grow revenue and fore to stabilize our economy and currency.
“The oil and gas sector is critical to our ability to do so. However, our current oil and gas production and investment levels fall significantly short of our potential.
“Since 2016, Nigeria has only accounted for only four per cent (4%) of Africa’s total oil and gas investments, despite possessing thirty-eight per cent (38%) of the continent’s hydrocarbon reserves.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is determined to re-write this narrative. His focus is to remove obstacles to investments in Nigeria; improve the Investment Climate; position Nigeria as the preferred investment destination for the Oil & Gas sector in Africa; diversify the economy for the benefit of all Nigerians On tapping the country’s gas potential, Verheijen said part of the objective of the fiscal incentives that the President recently signed was to reverse the over 70 per cent undeveloped gas reserves. She also explained why the Federal Government has continued to intervene in the per litre price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) sold in the country, despite removing subsidy on the product. Mrs. Verheijen said government has the prerogative to cushion the harsh effects of its policies on citizens, adding that what the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration is doing with regards to the fuel price regime is consistent with global practices.
“On May 29, 2023, subsidy was removed. However, government has the prerogative, whether in the US, in the West, and other eastern countries, all governments have the prerogative to maintain price stability and to (mitigate) social unrest. “So, if prices are (moving up), they have the right to intervene. It’s not only in the US, during COVID-19, there were lots of interventions and there were also subsidies. All governments reserve that right.
“And so, if for any reason, the administration has reviewed that it is not the right time to have prices continue to fluctuate, given the level of hardship in the country, given inflation, the government has the right to intervene intermittently. All governments do so.”
