THE expectations are high. The pace appears to be slow. The change mantra is on the verge of manifesting, but time is a major factor. Stakeholders in the petroleum sector believed that steady moves and brilliant policies are needed at this critical period to effect the desired changes that would facilitate industry growth in year 2016.

Specifically, the need for the Federal Government to entrench transparency and accountability in the sector was a vocal point of call for the industry operators, even as they clamour for speedy passage of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and optimal development of the gas resources.

The Principal Consultant, Lonadek (an oil and gas consulting firm), Dr. Ibilola Amao, said: “Government should focus on gas-to-power projects for IPP plants to stimulate the rejuvenation of the Nigerian economy.

She emphasised that government should monetize gas appropriately to stimulate exploration and production of Non Associated Gas (NAG) with the economies of scale tied to the of domestic gas (CNG, LPG etc) in bulk in major cities, industrial parks, Free Trade Zones (FTZs) and housing estates.

She also enjoined government to revisit investment in fertiliser plants using gas as feed stock to stimulate activities that can transform Nigeria into a food basket and exporter of processed agricultural produce. Incentivise investors in refineries so that Nigeria has enough “in-country” refining capacity to become self-sufficient and an exporter of finished products when oil prices improve.

According to the petroleum expert, President Buhari’s administration should also engage petroleum economists of repute to ensure that the oil and gas industry becomes a catalyst for growth and development of the Nigerian economy.
“It should pronounce realistic deadline that must be complied with for export of crude, importation of products and removal of subsidy. That should make everybody sit up, put their thinking caps on, invest and commence projects that would create value maximally based on the reality of the economics of our natural resources,” she said.

Amao however noted that the Petroleum Industry Bill should be passed into law by the present parliament. “The Minister of State is a lawyer, has worked for ExxonMobil and as a patriotic Nigerian he should do the needful,” she stated.

The Chairman and Managing Director, Frontier Oil, Dada Thomas, urged the Federal Government to exhibit more seriousness in developing gas-to-power, noting that this singular effort would buoy power generation and supply to the entire nation, bolster the economy and create the much needed employment for the teeming youths.

My expectation is that this government that is showing much seriousness about power should focus very much about gas to power sector. The president in his media chart mentioned regular power to the Nigerian nation, economy and government policies of creating employment, in other to achieve that, he certainly need to address the upstream gas industry.

I expect government to focus on gas to power value chain which will allow the gas we produce to fire the various power stations and produce more power for economy and the populace.
“Besides, the government need to encourage the people who are developing gas especially the indigenous operators to boost capacity, target additional market, growing their capabilities.

It needed to make the business attractive to indigenous operators, enhance development goals and economic plans, ensure that projects are bankable and spur banks to lend money to execute projects.
They have to encourage operators in the sector by developing the gas distribution grid. The private sector cannot do it alone because there are many things that government need to put in place, so they need to make the business attractive for the private sector to invest in gas pipeline distribution.

They should also make sure that they really commercially or privatise the operations of the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC). It role should be streamlined to be purely a gas transportation company. If they dwell on these factors i am sure we will really be unlocking gas to power in Nigeria, and if we solve the power problem in Nigeria the economy will be boom and we could generate capacity and boost employment

Thomas also stressed that government should tackle corruption headlong and entrench transparency in the industry, even as he advocate for complete unbundling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and commercialising the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC).

It is a shame that the NNPC cannot stand side by side with Petrobras, Statoil, and other national oil companies after about 60 years of oil production. We should do something to ensure that the commercial terms of the engagement are enforced in the Exploration and Production area. We should make NNPC, NPDC accountable. My own take is that they should unbundle NNPC and make it stand like a private sector company. Transparency and accountability is essential,” he said.

In the downstream sector, the Chairman, Integrated Oil and Gas Limited, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho, said the best thing for the government to do now is withdrawing subsidy which would save huge amount of money into government coffers to be used for developmental projects.

According to him, “the government is on the right track and they have made tangible process in a short time and we expect that they take the bold step and deregulate in the right way and intervene by supply interventions.

He also emphasised the need for government to build new refineries and allow the private sector to also float refineries.
“They must build new refineries. We have done very badly with the plants and we could not sit down and continue to import petrol when we have crude and can produce petrol ourselves. It is a very difficult thing to import. We may not see much profit now but we are hoping that in a very near future, it would come. The private sector markers have decided not to continue to market finished products but absolutely to purchase raw materials and process it into finished products locally, with this we are going to add value to the Nigerian economy through the jobs creation and profits made,”’ he said.

President Mohammad Buhari, had in his New Year speech said the present challenges in the petroleum sector and across other sectors are ‘temporary’ promising to bring the change mantra to fruition.

Welcome to the beginning of a New Year of the continuation of change in our beloved nation. I am aware that Nigerians have experienced a number of significant hardships over the past months. Living in the State House has not alienated me from your daily sufferings. I am aware of the lengthy queues at fuel stations and of the difficulties businesses have faced in acquiring foreign exchange.

These challenges are only temporary; we are working to make things better. When I presented myself to you as a presidential candidate and asked you to vote for me, I wanted to be a leader who keeps his promises. I wanted to be a leader who restores the people’s hope in those elected to serve them. I wanted to be a leader who initiates positive and enduring change.

I have charged all my ministers and other appointees to ensure that Nigerians experience positive changes in their lives in 2016. We must reduce our country’s reliance on oil. We must diversify our economy.
“And we must do all we can to promote job creation. Our challenges are many but our determination to succeed is strong and unshaken. So too is our confidence in God.” He said.