(Ecofin Agency) - The Nigerian government has approved a new oil policy designed to reduce the importation of refined products and promote stability in the industry. This policy also aims to restructure the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to ensure efficiency and accountability.

The Minister of oil, Emmanuel Kachikwu (photo), who disclosed this while addressing the press on Wednesday, said: “Apart from the fact of fluidity in pricing and uncertainty in terms of the price regime in crude, we are pushing for a refining processing environment and moving away from exporting as it were to refining petroleum product[s], that’s one change you will see.” “Secondly how we sell our crude is going to be looked at, there is a lot of geographical market we need to look at in the long term, contracting and sales as opposed to systemic contracting that we have been doing.”

This new policy comes a month after a National Gas Policy was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC). The gas policy aims to ease investment and develop the sector.

Let’s recall that the Minister of oil recently announced plans by the country to shift its focus to natural gas production as its oil reserve is estimated to be exhausted in the next 25 to 30 years. Nigeria’s gas reserves have been estimated to sustain the country’s fuel revenues for 60 more years but significant investments would be needed.

Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer which is struggling to get out of its first economic recession in 25 years, depends mostly on oil revenue even as it recently commenced moves to drive the economy away from oil and generate more income from other sources like tax.

Anita Fatunji