FG To Save N1.4trillion Yearly From Fuel Subsidy Removal

The federal government is saving over N1.4 trillion from the recent removal of subsidy from the pump price of premium motor spirit that would have been expended on subsidy claims per annum.

The minister of state for petroleum resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu revealed this  while speaking when he visited the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

Kachikwu, who doubles as the Group Managing Director of the NNPC explained that the deregulation policy has also re-awakened the downstream sector and would help the nation become a net exporter of petroleum products in a few years.

He said:“We now have a lot of people who are interested in investing in our refineries and building more refineries and we will remain committed to the goal which is to reduce importation of petroleum products by 60 per cent by the end of 2018 and become a net exporter of petroleum products by 2019.”

Kachikwu in a statement on Thursday, June 16, by the board noted that with the fall in crude oil prices and reduced investment in the sector, the NCDMB must re-strategize and transit from its role of just propagating local content and local participation to one of finding commonality with industry stakeholders to encourage investment.

He added that the corporate restructuring initiated in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has reduced the average monthly loss recorded by the corporation from N40 billion in the recent past to N3 billion.