Nigeria spends $12b on oil and gas industry yearly – Sanusi

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Lamido Sanusi, said about $12 billion is spent annually on various activities in the oil and gas industry.

Sanusi said in Abuja, that the sector accounted for more than 90 per cent of both export revenues and foreign exchange earnings and 80 per cent of government revenue.

He said there was a great and urgent need for funding the sector for accelerated economic development and for repositioning the country in the global energy dynamics.

Delivering a paper at the 33rd annual international conference and exhibition of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Sanusi said: “Nigeria is the sixth world largest producer of oil and the 10th largest producer of natural gas.

“These ratings can be improved upon if more funds are injected into the industry and additional investments undertaken,’’ he said.

He said a comparative analysis of  enactment of the local content bill showed Nigeria’s response to emerging challenges in the global industry and approaches being adopted to ensure adequate investments in the sector, adding that NNPC was established as a commercially-integrated oil company with a mission to profitably explore, develop, produce, process and market crude and refined petroleum.

According to him, the Corporation is also mandated to process and market by-products and derivatives of crude oil at internationally competitive prices, both at home and abroad.

Source: Thisday