The federal government yesterday disclosed that it had negotiated a $15 billion investment with the Indian government for the oil and gas sector.
The minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, stated this in Abuja yesterday in a statement signed by the director of press in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Mr Idang Alibi.
According to the statement, the negotiations were part of the three-day investment drive of the minister’s visit to India.
According to the statement, part of the terms would be for the Indian government to make an upfront payment for crude purchases to Nigeria, adding that Nigeria would be repaid on the basis of firm Term Crude Contracts over some years, with Indian public sector companies collaborating in the refining sector as well as in exploration and production activities.
He explained that long term contracts for supply of crude to Indian Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) companies from Nigeria and possibilities of executing City Gas Distribution (CGD) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) infrastructure projects by Indian PSU companies in Nigeria were part of the negotiations.
The statement noted that Kachikwu had concluded talks on the investments in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector in a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, adding that both ministers acknowledged the existing and significant engagement between the two countries in the hydrocarbon sector.
Available record shows that between 2015 and 2016, India imported nearly 23.7 million tons of crude, which was nearly 12 per cent of India’s overall imports, and over two million tons of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Nigeria.
As a result of the negotiations, the two countries agreed to work on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate investments by India in the Nigerian oil and gas sector.
According to NAN, the investment would specifically be in areas such as Term Contract, participation of Indian companies in the refining sector, and oil and gas marketing.
Others include upstream ventures, the development of gas infrastructure and the training of oil and gas personnel in Nigeria.
“The MoU is expected to be firmed up in December 2016 during PETROTECH-2016.
” Both ministers also agreed to strengthen the existing cooperation in the oil and gas sector, and, in particular, to explore investment opportunities for Indian public and private sector companies in Nigeria,” it said.
It added that the minister had one-on-one meetings with top executives of Indian public and private sector oil and gas companies.
Source:NAN
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