Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, has weakened the hope of Nigerians getting affordable cooking gas when he disclosed that the Federal Government has no control over the skyrocketing prices.
He said this Tuesday while fielding questions from State House reporters after introducing the CEO, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA,
Engr. Faruk Ahmed and the CEO, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission NUPRC, Engr. Gbenga Komolafe, to the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The minister, who said President Muhammadu Buhari was concerned over the development, stated that government cannot even subsidize the product because it was fully deregulated as gas prices are determined by the global market.
He said the government was doing everything possible to bring down the price especially during the yuletide.
Asked what the Federal Government was doing to minimize damage in Nembe, Bayelsa state, where there is oil spillage, he said Buhari had directed that he should visit the community to assess the situation.
On what was responsible for the resurfacing of queues in filling stations, the minister directed the CEO of the Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Ahmed to answer it.
The NMDPRA CEO said the issues of the sale of PMS above the official ex-depot price of N148 and the marketers’ complaints about the payment for logistics in US dollars had been addressed at the stakeholders’ meeting.
Also speaking, the CEO, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission NUPRC, Engr. Komolafe said the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act had commenced by their appointment.
He expressed commitment to work towards enhancing our daily oil production, ensuring full digitization of the upstream activities for real-time monitoring purposes, introducing Public-Private Partnership Initiative to boost revenue, and putting in place strategic plans to mitigate the expected challenges of the energy transition.
On his part, the CEO of Downstream said midstream and downstream would open up investments especially in the gas sector because of the abundance of unharnessed gas in this country.
He said people are now interested in working towards utilization of LPG, but observed that production was not commensurate with the demand.
He underscored the need to make regulations that would guide the way businesses were conducted, especially with so many extremes downstream sector.
