Until Fuel Subsidy Is Removed, Fuel Crisis Remains Imminent – Kachikwu

Until fuel subsidy is removed, fuel crisis remains imminent – Kachikwu

Minister
of State for petroleum Resources, Mr. Ibe Kachikwu, Thursday, stated
that until the downstream sector of the Nigerian petroleum industry is
liberalized and subsidy of petroleum products removed, the country would
continue to struggle and face challenges in terms of ensuring stable
fuel supply. Kachikwu •Kachikwu: Hosted APC Northern leaders Speaking in
Abuja, at the presentation of the key achievements of the Ministry of
Petroleum Resources in three years, 2016 to 2018 and award to staff of
the ministry, Kachikwu, argued that to address fuel supply challenges,
the country needed to find a way to satisfy the need to provide products
sufficiently for the populace and at the same time to be able to free
the sector for growth. He said, “In the midstream and downstream
sectors, we have struggled. I would love to see a day when there would
be no fuel scarcity in this country. But for that to happen, there are
certain realities. The liberalization of the sector is going to be a
panacea to being able to solve this. As long as we continue to subsidise
products, create market-unfriendly type practices, we would continue to
struggle. “We are not going to trade our way out of the fuel crisis by
bringing sufficiency, by expanding reserves, by extravagant costs which
cost the country a lot of money; that is not the solution. The solution
is to get our refineries working.” Kachikwu noted that investments are
lacking in the petroleum sector, adding that over the years, refineries’
turn around maintenance, TAM, had been fraught with faulty models which
had hampered the effectiveness of the refineries.

Source:- Vanguardngr