Oil & Gas
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The Asian countries of India, China and Malaysia are now the top importers of Nigerian crude oil with India holding number one spot in the list which was previously occupied by the United States
| By Maureen Chigbo | Jun. 30, 2014 @ 01:00 GMT
NIGERIA is no longer losing sleep over the drop in the importation of its crude oil by the United States as Asian countries have taken the lead. India, in particular, has replaced the US as the largest importer of Nigeria’s crude, followed closely by China and Malaysia. In recent months, the US, which had traditionally imported the bulk of Nigeria’s crude oil, drastically reduced its demand which now stands at about 250,000 barrels per day due to the discovery of Shale gas in the country. India, now purchases some 30 percent of Nigeria’s daily crude production which currently hovers around 2.5million barrels.
Tim Okon, coordinator, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, told journalists at the on-going 21st World Petroleum Congress, in Moscow, Russia, that Nigeria would not ignore any market in its quest to remain competitive in the global oil and gas industry. “Asia is important and in that respect we have regards for all markets; the important thing is to make sure that you are selling the products that you have and you do not ignore any market.”
Okon, who also doubles as the director of Transformation of the NNPC, said that Nigeria was participating in the congress to access global business opportunities in the petroleum industry especially in the gas sub-sector to enable it to position itself as a major competitor in the hydrocarbon market. “As a natural resource rich country, Nigeria is working hard to do a better job in developing such resources and translating them to the wider economy,” he said.
Stressing that the country did not have preference markets for its products, he, however admitted that the Petroleum Industry Bill currently before the National Assembly would need to be passed into law to enable the country to maximize its potentials in the oil and gas industry.
“I cannot talk about future incentives if the principal law that would give birth to it has not been passed but I want to say that the general intention is that Nigeria must compete in the market place and our fiscal systems are designed to be competitive that would lead to good outcomes for the country,” Okon said. He added: “It is always helpful to do things in a timely manner and that is an important point to stress. Many of the countries that were trying to get new legislations passed like Ghana, Brazil, Mozambique and even Uganda have passed their legislation. So I think timeliness is of the essence.”
Regarded as the global oil and gas industry equivalent of the Olympics, the World Petroleum Congress is the biggest congregation of oil and gas experts on the global stage. The Congress essentiality consists of an exhibition and conference.
According to Ohi Alegbe, group general manager, Public affairs division, NNPC, Nigeria’s participation at the 2014 WPC is anchored on the theme “Harnessing Nigeria’s Gas Resources for Sustainable National and Regional Development.”
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