The Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu (photo), has said that the removal of subsidy from the pump price of petrol is currently allowing the Federal Government to save more than N1.4 trillion annually.

According to Kachikwu, the deregulation policy had also revived the downstream sector and this will assist the nation in becoming a net exporter of petroleum products in a few years to come.“We now have a lot of people who are interested in investing in our refineries and building more refineries and we will remain committed to the goal which is to reduce importation of petroleum products by 60 per cent by the end of 2018 and become a net exporter of petroleum products by 2019,” he said.

The minister stated that the rearrangement in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has lowered the average monthly loss by the corporation from N40 billion to N3 billion. NNPC is making continuous efforts to reach profitability before the end of this year.

He said plans are ongoing to review the country’s ailing pipelines, depots and gas infrastructure in order to replace them, Leadership news reports.

Anita Fatunji