By Bisi Bamishe
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and the Organization of the Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) have pledged to work closely together to achieve the nation’s aspirations to attract investments and grow production.
The two organizations came to this accord when the Secretary General of OPEC, Haitham al-Ghais, paid a courtesy visit to the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mr. Mele Kyari, at the NNPC Towers on Wednesday.
Speaking at the event, al-Ghais stated that OPEC was completely aligned with NNPC Ltd.’s vision as captured in its payoff line: “Energy for Today, Energy for Tomorrow” because of its inclusive view of energy as opposed to the view being pushed in some quarters that some sources of energy were bad.
He disclosed that in spite of the pushback on oil and gas, the world would require about $14tr investments from now till 2035 to be able to meet global demand, and urged NNPC Ltd to do everything to tap into that opportunity to raise its production to continue to be a reliable source of energy to the world.
“We will continue to ensure that the market is stable. The global market has to be stable in order for Nigeria to be able to attract investors. If there’s volatility, if there’s no stability in the market, it will only create havoc for everybody, whether it’s a producer or consumer country. So, we will continue to do that in OPEC. We count on Nigeria’s support”, the OPEC helmsman said.
In his remarks, Kyari said NNPC Ltd was working very hard to recover lost production and provide the right fiscal environment to attract investments.
He expressed appreciation to OPEC for its support to Nigeria, adding that NNPC Ltd will continue to support the organization in whatever way it could.
