The Chief Executive Officer, OVH Energy, a licensee of the Oando retail brand, Huub Stokman has advocated for development of Nigeria’s capacity to refine crude locally to engender growth in the nation’s economy.

Speaking at the just concluded Nigeria International Petroleum Summit, NIPS, held in Abuja, Stokman, emphasized the need to review the policies concerning importing refined petroleum products.

According to him, “There have been attempts to regulate the industry in a bid to ensure sustainability and innovative growth. However, there is an urgent need to develop Nigeria’s capacity to refine crude oil locally. This will bring about great financial and socio-economic impact not just on the petroleum industry but also on other sectors of the economy. This is even more critical now taking into consideration the costs of crude prices in the global marketplace, which means increase in the amount spent on importation of petroleum products”.

He further stated that the discussion around the refining industry is the first of the 7 Big Wins developed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, to enable a stable environment that will maximize investment opportunities in the oil and gas industry and generate increased growth in the Nigerian economy.

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“There is no viable refining if we do not talk about deregulation and removing fuel subsidy. As one of the biggest economies in Africa, we can justify the reason to have a viable refining industry. There is need to invest in refinery infrastructure in order to have the capacity to produce clean fuels”, he said.

Stokman commended thanked the government, ministries, the legislature and other agencies for the payment of outstanding subsidies owed to the major marketers.

SOURCE: oglinks.news