Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC Ltd. have pledged to work together to achieve Nigeria’s aspirations to attract investments and grow its oil and gas production.
The two organisations came to this accord when the Secretary General of OPEC, Haitham al-Ghais, paid a courtesy visit to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mr. Mele Kyari, at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Wednesday.
Al-Ghais stated that OPEC was completely aligned with NNPC Ltd.’s vision as captured in its payoff line: “Energy for Today, Energy for Tomorrow” because of its inclusive view of energy as opposed to the view being pushed in some quarters that some sources of energy were bad.
He disclosed that in spite of the pushback on oil and gas, the world would require about $14 trillion investments from now till 2035 to be able to meet global demand, and urged NNPC Ltd. to do everything to tap into that opportunity to raise its production to continue to be a reliable source of energy to the world.
“We will continue to ensure that the market is stable. The global market has to be stable in order for Nigeria to be able to attract investors. If there’s volatility, if there’s no stability in the market, it will only create havoc for everybody, whether it’s a producer or consumer country. So, we will continue to do that in OPEC. We count on Nigeria’s support”, the OPEC helmsman said.
Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mr. Kyari, said the company was working hard to recover lost production and provide the right fiscal environment to attract investments.
Kyari expressed appreciation to OPEC for its support to Nigeria, adding that NNPC Ltd. will continue to support the organisation in whatever way it could.