* Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva * Pix source : Punch Newspapers
The Federal Government today disclosed that one billion barrels of crude oil have been discovered in the troubled North-East region of the country so far.
The Federal Government revealed this through the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva while speaking at the closing ceremony of the Nigerian International Petroleum Summit, (NIPS).
He however lamented that negative comments about Nigeria was hindering the inflow of capital into the country.
The Minister added that exploration will continue in the North-East region of the country, adding that on completion of exploration, the actual volume crude oil will be known.
According to him, “The figure is not totally out yet. But from the evaluation results we are getting, the reserve that has been discovered in the North-East is about a billion barrels. Those are the kind of figures we are seeing and we are beginning to understand the geological structure of the region.”
The Federal Government Sylva stated would soon commence the rehabilitation of the country’s refineries, stressing that the government was committed to ensuring that the companies returned to their primary function of refining oil.
In his words, “We are going to start the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, which is the biggest in Nigeria. If we are able to finish the Port Harcourt refinery we would have achieved a lot as a government.
He added that the Federal Government is continuing with studies about Warri Refinery and that discussions are also continuing on Kaduna Refinery.
“This first quarter, the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery would begin. I cannot tell you for certain when the rehabilitation of the Warri Refinery or the rehabilitation of Kaduna Refinery will start.”
