Nigeria sees global oil player from restructuring

LAGOS – Nigeria’s state oil company will be transformed into a global player that will be listed abroad, tap international capital markets and buy global assets, a minister said on Thursday.

The ambitious plans unveiled by the head of the National Planning Commission, Mohammed Sanusi Daggash, were the first explanation of a radical redesign of Africa’s largest energy industry announced after a cabinet meeting on Wednesday. The government said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.(NNPC) would be split into a national oil company, a petroleum products distribution authority and a national oil and gas assets holding company.”Why can’t we leverage our assets? If we need US$100 million to invest, we should be able to get it,” said Daggash, who is also a cabinet minister, after a news briefing.”The government has potential, but it has dormant equity.We have been underinvesting for 20-25 years,” he added.He cited the market capitalisation of Russian gas giant Gazprom , the global refining assets of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA and the borrowing power of listed oil majors as examples to follow.”We want transformation and that means we have to invest,” he said.NNPC controls about 1,4 million barrels per day of oil production, he said, but the company struggles to finance new development because it is poorly managed and structured.It has not published audited annual accounts and has been criticised by unions and opposition parties as a source of corruption.NNPC says it has been given a clean bill of health from external auditors.Independent bodies rank Nigeria as one of the world’s most corrupt nations.Oil exports of about 2,2 million barrels per day provide the country with 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings.Nampa-ReutersThe government said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.(NNPC) would be split into a national oil company, a petroleum products distribution authority and a national oil and gas assets holding company.”Why can’t we leverage our assets? If we need US$100 million to invest, we should be able to get it,” said Daggash, who is also a cabinet minister, after a news briefing.”The government has potential, but it has dormant equity.We have been underinvesting for 20-25 years,” he added.He cited the market capitalisation of Russian gas giant Gazprom , the global refining assets of Venezuela’s state oil company PDVSA and the borrowing power of listed oil majors as examples to follow.”We want transformation and that means we have to invest,” he said.NNPC controls about 1,4 million barrels per day of oil production, he said, but the company struggles to finance new development because it is poorly managed and structured.It has not published audited annual accounts and has been criticised by unions and opposition parties as a source of corruption.NNPC says it has been given a clean bill of health from external auditors.Independent bodies rank Nigeria as one of the world’s most corrupt nations.Oil exports of about 2,2 million barrels per day provide the country with 90 per cent of its foreign exchange earnings.Nampa-Reuters