*Dr. Ibe Kachikwu
19 May 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos – The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, says the ministry would continue to work with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to give oil marketing companies foreign exchange to enable them continue to import fuel.
Represented at the Rainoil 20th Anniversary Lecture in Lagos by the Group Executive Director/Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Henry Ikem-Obih, the minister also said the Ministry was working hard with the NNPC to remove some charges in the fuel importation process that go to inflate fuel price.
“We are also working very hard with the NNPC to reduce some of the charges on products such as the usual five per cent provision on proforma invoices as allowed for ship-to-ship operations.
“We are doing all these to help manage and maintain the current price ceiling of N145 per litre in the face of very significant challenges,” Kachiwu stated.
He also stated that the government was moving the fuel market to a point where private sector operators would be more involved, saying, “If we achieve that, everybody will compete and have a longer term view of the market from an investment standpoint”.
