…Says doing business in the country difficult
OpeOluwani Akintayo
20 July 2017, Sweetcrude, Lagos – General Manager, Downstream Gas, Chevron Nigeria/Mid-Africa, Mr James Okeke, has said that Nigeria did not make enough money during the oil boom era.
He revealed this at the on-going Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (A.W.Are.S) 2017 training, organised for journalists in Nigeria.
According to him, even when crude oil was $140 per barrel, the country did not make enough money due to low production.
“Even when oil price was $140 per barrel, Nigeria did not make enough money because our production was low. We did not take advantage of the price back then, so we didn’t make enough money,” he said.
Okeke made the statement to debunk reports that the country made much money during oil boom and should have enough savings to cushion the effect of crashing oil price.
“It is not true that we made so much money at that time because we did not have so much oil to boost sale” he said.
According to him, low oil prices have forced IOCs to borrow money for their operations.
“Now the price is down and we have to borrow. We all borrow,” he said.
Investment in the industry is now low as a result, he said.
Okeke explained that Nigeria should make investments conducive and competitive, saying doing business in the country “is difficult”.
“Nigeria is blessed with resources to compete in the world. With world’s 11th oil reserve and world’s 9th largest gas reserve, we are sufficient already. But we must make business environment not only competitive but conducive,” he said.
However, he said one of Nigeria’s challenges is how to develop its resources.