Oil Reforms’ll Sustain Hydrocarbon Investments – Oniwon

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Austen Oniwon, has reiterated that the ongoing oil and gas industry reforms will ensure the sustainability of existing ventures as well as attract new investments into the petroleum sector of the economy.

Oniwon stated this in Abuja during a recent book launch titled “The Political Economy of the Oil and Gas in Africa: The Case of Nigeria” authored by an NNPC worker, Dr. Soala Ariweriokuma.

He reassured the joint venture partners and other players that the intention of the Federal Government in the ongoing industry reforms is not to discourage investment but rather to strengthen the industry within a clearly defined framework.

“I can assure you that the oil reforms being pursued by the Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan administration will ensure the sustainability of existing investments and attract new deals into the entire hydrocarbon value chain given the various targets that have been set,” Oniwon said.

The NNPC boss added that the Corporation would continue to positively engage all stakeholders as partners in resolving issues of concerns, hence addressing areas requiring further clarifications as the policy objectives of government for the petroleum sector.

He described the author of the book, Dr. Ariweriokuma as a serving NNPC worker and a colleague who has devoted extra time and resources to produce a book that would educate and inform members of the public about issues in the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

The GMD noted that the Corporation would continue to encourage its personnel to pursue intellectual excellence and engage their skills in ways that will significantly benefit society.

The book reviewer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Joseph Ajienka, described the book as a veritable compendium of facts and figures about the oil and gas industry, which has remained an invaluable trajectory of the nation’s economy.

Ajienka opined that the oil and gas sector has placed Nigeria and the Niger Delta in particular on the hydrocarbon radar of the globe side by side with Venezuela, Iran and Saudi Arabia.

He commended the management of the NNPC for ensuring steady supply of petroleum products to Nigerians and appealed to the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill in order to transform the sector for the better.