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Nigeria ’s oil industry defective, says Total boss
ABUJA -THE Chief Executive Officer of Total Worldwide, Mr. Christopher De
Margerie, has urged the Nigerian authorities to fast-tract the reforms in
the petroleum sector, even as he called for caution in its execution.
He observed that the operation of the Nigerian oil and gas industry was
defective, with government owing international oil companies operating in
Nigeria arrears of payments and taking so much time to approve projects.
According to him, Total was worried by some things like approval, investment
decisions and payments, adding that the company supported the reforms in
principle but was yet to know the details and their implications.
De Margerie was speaking on Friday when he met with officials of the
Nigerian petroleum industry, which included the Minister of State for
Petroleum, Mr. Odein Ajumogobia and Group Managing Director, Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Mohammed Barkindo, in Abuja .
He, however, observed that the crash in crude oil price in the international
market presents Nigeria with a great opportunity to carry out the planned
reforms in the oil and gas industry.
The Total boss explained that carrying out the reforms in this period of
price lull, would position Nigeria to reap the benefits when the price of
crude oil rebounds.
He said, “It is true that today there is low price for oil and gas and some
people might tell you that it is not the right time.
“When prices are high, why change. When they are low, do not change and when
they are in the middle, do nothing. Frankly this is an opportunity now,
especially because prices are low.
Let us be ready to get structures that are more adaptive to the new
world.”According to him, “We can certainly do better. Let us find out ways
to improve things. We will be more than supportive of the reforms. We know
you need to change; you cannot always do the same things.
“We have disagreements, but we want to solve them to be more efficient, more
productive and become better partners that we are today. We can better work
as friends. Some people think differently, but I believe it is easier to do
it with friends, even when there are disagreements.
He added that the opportunities for developing our partnership could be
better done with new structures. “In principle, we want to consolidate
partnerships and make them win_win. We know what we have, but we do not know
what is coming. Total is always for the good,” he said.
De Margerie acknowledged that the big drop in oil prices had forced many
companies to look carefully at their investments, adding that even Total was
suffering.
Nevertheless, he said his company was “extremely willing to develop the
company and especially to not have those stop and go which is invest when
the price of oil is high and you stop. That is the only way to lose money
for Nigeria , NNPC and Total. Our clear message is not to stop.
“Sometimes, we need to delay to help our contractors to understand they need
to be a little more decent on the prices of their services. And especially
Nigeria which we consider one of the best opportunities for growth for
Total, especially for the quality of relationship we are enjoying.”
Earlier in his welcome speech, GMD of NNPC, Dr. Mohammed Barkindo told the
visiting Total President that the journey of the oil industry reforms had
started with the submission of the bill to the National Assembly.
He further explained that the subsequent phases were also on course with the
reconstitution of the NNPC management and bringing the management in line
with the aspiration of government for NNPC to become a fully commercialized,
capitalized entity that will operate along the entire supply chain and
strengthen its partnership between NNPC and the international oil companies
by incorporating the Joint Ventures governed by the Joint Operating
Agreement.
