Energy Briefs
ONE of the important outcomes of President Goodluck Jonathan’s state visit to South Africa, is the Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, signed for the two countries to cooperate in the oil and gas sector of the economy. The MOU is part of the efforts to further transform the Nigerian Petroleum Sector, and also reinforce and strengthen the existing symbiotic relationship between the two largest economies in Africa.
Diezani Alison-Madueke, minister of Petroleum Resources, at the Nigeria and South Africa Business Forum in Cape Town, South Africa, last week, said the MOU was aimed at boosting the volume of oil and gas trade between the two countries. According to her, the interface between the two nations would further develop and deepen their bilateral relations to develop synergies that would impact positively on the two nations and the continent of Africa at large.
“Specifically, the MOU on oil and gas sector is to basically help in the transfer of knowledge, skills, capacities and technology. This will ultimately help in transferring South African footprint into the Nigerian hydrocarbon industry,” said Alison-Madueke. The minister noted that the engagement with South Africa would also help Nigeria to learn the model of its National Oil Company which has done so well over the years in order to replicate it in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to transform the way it is being managed.
She also seized the opportunity to say that when te Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, before the National Assembly, is passed into law, it would help to open up the entire spectrum of the industry to investors from all over the globe. “There are a number of incentives packaged in the Petroleum Industry Bill and by the time the fiscal regime is worked out by the National Assembly along with every other stakeholder in the oil and gas industry, I am sure Nigeria will become the choice destination for investors in the petroleum industry,’’ she said. The minister added that the Gas Master Plan in the PIB is well delineated to provide tax holidays and other incentives which are geared towards attracting investors to the Nigerian Oil and Gas sector.
— May 20, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT
Tags:
