Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu has stated that the Niger Delta region can produce three million barrel of crude oil per day.
Kachikwu stated this at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said the capacity has however been limited by insurgency in the region.
He said, “It is important we continue to sustain the institutional engagement and negotiations which are key to the development of the region.
“Our target is zero militancy by the middle of 2017, and an incident reduction in the region by 90 per cent by 2018.
“We must resolve current militancy problems and bring back oil production to 2.2 million barrels per day.”
He lamented that over $40bn had been spent in 12 years and there were no infrastructures on ground to justify the huge expenditure profile.
Kachikwu said there was need to create stability incentive schemes, jobs and investment opportunities, so that the government would look at cross border investments to strengthen the region.
He said the government was introducing a joint account with oil companies to foster transparency in cash calls and ensure that inflows were clearly understood by all.
“We are targeting 30 per cent cost savings, which we can link to transparency. What is most important is not the amount of the fund; it’s the conceptualisation of that funding.
“Governors will have to come together as a regional block to look at cross-state investments in roads, railways, town facilities or specialist hospitals. We are going to pool in energy and ensure we look at cross border investments to strengthen the region.”
