FG evaluates the oil industry highly despite subsidies, theft, and instability.

The Federal Government insisted yesterday in Abuja that the performance of the oil and gas sector was above average over the past seven years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, despite the country’s petroleum sector having had a dismal year due to crude oil theft, subsidy payments, and rising insecurity that has made operations for players in the industry more difficult.

Nigeria’s crude oil output has remained low over the last seven years despite an increase in theft and vandalism that has caused oil wells to be shut down and investment to flee to other African nations.

The oil industry has apparently collapsed due to the status of the refineries, the monopoly in the sale of premium motor spirit, the import of unclean fuel, subsidy payments, and allegations of corruption in the sector.

However, at a news conference on the scorecard of Buhari, the ministers in charge of petroleum and communication said that although efforts are being made to finish additional projects that the Buhari government started in the sector, early projects have maintained their promises.

The ministers boasted that a portion of the Port-Harcourt Refinery will restart this first quarter, particularly the plant’s 60, 000 barrel capacity, as numerous modular refineries are already operating throughout the nation. They added that the sector has played crucial roles in boosting domestic gas usage, ending the smuggling of premium motor spirits, and signing the Petroleum Industry Act.

Timipre Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum, stated that efforts are being made in areas such as deep water drilling, 2D seismic data acquisition, the Bida basin, repair, and protection of the pipeline network, among others, even though a target of 3 million daily barrels of crude oil production has been set.

When asked if gasoline prices would reach the N40 per liter that the APC had initially promised, Sylva responded jokingly that it might be possible if the naira were to be pegged to the dollar. However, he emphasized that if he were to leave office, he would be fine purchasing gasoline at the market rate of about N300 per litre.

The public would need to come to terms and accept since the government is spending so much money to maintain the system, according to Sylva, who underlined that elimination of the subsidy remained the preferred choice for the nation.