Featured, Interview
Siky Aliyu, managing director, National Engineering and Technical Company, NETCO, speaks with Anayo Ezugwu, staff writer, Realnews, on topical issues affecting the oil and gas industry at the West African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference, WAIPEC, which held in Lagos recently. Excerpts.
Realnews: What are the challenges you are facing in the industry?
Aliyu: Our greatest challenge is losing more than 2 million barrels per day. In this regime we have gone even below 1 million barrels per day at a time when the crude oil price was just over $20 per barrel. So if you have those kinds of challenges, how do you get money? What we need to do is to find a way to sustain the production, maintain the production and even at this regime of $50 we may still get some foreign exchanges injected into the country. When there is no money it will be difficult for the country to operate and pay bills.
Realnews: How is the scarcity of foreign exchange impacting on the operators in the industry?
Aliyu: It is impacting on them significantly because some of the things they have to use are imported. They need materials which are imported. They need to pay for some of the services which are also in foreign exchange. So it will impact them and we are looking for ways some of these rates can be giving to them at a reasonable rate rather than going to the black market to try to buy because the cost of production would escalate and it is not sustainable.
Realnews: You are working with the regulator, the NNPC. Are you in talks with the CBN to subsidise the foreign exchange for them?
Aliyu: There are a lot of discussion going on between our senior management and CBN to really understand the challenges they are facing and they are engaging CBN on a regular basis.
Realnews: Is there anything the CBN wants to do for them very soon?
Aliyu: We are hopeful that something will happen. What is most important is to find ways of keeping the production going. All the pipeline vandalisation has to stop. Apart from the fact that you are reducing income flow into the country, it is also a very major environmental disaster for those communities. So its need to stop and the honourable minister is engaging them. He is doing everything he can and the NNPC top management is equally engaging them. You can see that the vice president is moving all over the Niger Delta engaging them to find a way to make peace. And once there is peace, we will maintain the production and once production is maintained there is a very likelihood of earning more foreign exchange because if you increase your volume even at this $50 regime you are likely to get some money to run the industry and run the government.
Realnews: What is the current crude oil production?
Aliyu: It is between 1.9 million and 2 million barrels.
Realnews: Giving the 1.9 million barrels, what is your outlook?
Aliyu: The intention is to go all the way to 2.4 million. Normally, if everything is working and there is no vandalisation of the pipelines, we are likely to get like 2.4 million barrels per day. But the intention is to ultimately take it to about 3 to 4 million barrels per day. But right now if we are able to maintain the target of 2.4 million barrels per day, even at $50 per barrel is challenging but there is still enough money in it to run the industry and run the government.
Realnews: Have you fix those facilities vandalised in the Niger Delta?
Aliyu: The engagement is helping us in fixing it and very soon we will fix all of them.
— Apr 3, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT
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