Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva stated that his country is rich in oil and natural gas and called for Turkish businesspeople to invest in this field.
Timipre Sylva, Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, spoke about relations and investment opportunities with Turkey.
Stating that they want to increase Nigeria’s natural gas reserves, Sylva said, “We want to increase our reserve (natural gas) from 206 trillion cubic feet to 600 trillion cubic feet. At this point, I invite Turkish investors to extract this amount together.”
Sylva underlined that there is a strong cooperation between Turkey and Nigeria in the field of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and said that Turkey imports a large amount of LNG from Nigeria.
Explaining that Turkey has an additional demand for LNG, but Nigeria could not provide this amount due to the problems it has in production, Sylva said, “We cannot produce at full capacity at the LNG production center in Ebonyi state. For this reason, we cannot give the additional amount requested by the Turkish government. We are trying to resolve this issue by the end of the year. We are also negotiating with other international LNG suppliers for the additional amount in question.”
“WE WANT TO ATTRACT TURKISH INVESTMENTS IN ENERGY”
Pointing out that they want to attract Turkish investments to Nigeria in the field of energy, Sylva emphasized that the country offers a great opportunity especially in the extraction and processing of gas.
Stating that his country “coincidentally” discovered 206 trillion cubic feet of gas while searching for oil, Sylva said, “There is a very high amount of gas here. Previously, we did not focus on gas extraction because the legislation was not appropriate. But now it is possible. We want to increase our reserve from 6 trillion cubic feet to about 600 trillion cubic feet. At this point, I invite Turkish investors to increase this amount together.”
Calling on Turkish investors to add value to the extracted gas by taking part in drilling operations, recovery and well activities, Sylva said:
“There are many things we can do here. We are aware of Turkey’s technological capacity. Therefore, we are very willing to work with Turkish investors in Nigeria. In addition to oil and natural gas extraction and production, we attach great importance to Turkish investments in infrastructure works. Because there is a great lack of pipeline and refinery in our country. There are also opportunities here in the processing of gas and the production of ammonia and fertilizers.”
“PRODUCTION OF MANY OPEC MEMBER COUNTRIES LIKE NIGERIA IS AT THE PEAK”
Sylva also made evaluations about the volatility in oil prices due to the Russia-Ukraine war.
Stating that he finds the criticisms that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members do not increase production while prices are rising, Sylva said, “There is no situation where you can open the taps all of a sudden. At this point, we need to have additional capacity or idle capacity so that we can put it on the market. Already, the production of many OPEC member countries such as Nigeria is at its peak. So there is nothing that OPEC did on purpose or on purpose.”
Pointing out that OPEC countries are not satisfied with the situation in question, Sylva emphasized that high prices affect production negatively by increasing competition among the countries in question, and therefore the optimal price is targeted.
Sylva underlined that the recent developments are also due to the rapid transition to the global energy transformation and said, “Investments in natural gas and oil were suddenly withdrawn without being replaced by alternatives. What was expected? Of course, we are not against energy transformation, but we argue that it should be a gradual process.”
Source: Sabah / Translated by Irem Yildiz