The Federal Government anticipates about $2bn from the renewal of oil and gas leases Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has this to say.

The Minister, on Wednesday made this known, while fielding questions from Newsmen at the Nigeria International Petroleum Summit in Abuja.

 “We projected for the licence renewal probably around $2bn; right now, we are at about $1.2bn, $1.3bn. I don’t have the total number of the people renewing but I’m aware it should be around 20 to 30 renewal,” he said.

Kachikwu said although most of the licences were due for renewal between 2019 and 2020, but the ministry decided to start early to generate funds.

He also noted that the law allows for a renewal of a licence six months before expiration.

“We decided to start the process early to generate some revenue for the government. We also look at the terms under which they are renewed; that is all that we are doing,” he said.

According to him early renewal was necessary for many companies to have the opportunity to access money from banks for investment.

He expressed worry over the number of oil and gas fields that were sitting idle in the portfolios of international oil companies operating in the country.

He also commented on a session where Total E&P Nigeria Limited and Shell Petroleum Development Company made presentations on their deepwater projects.

 “We will still continue to be worried about a lot of our fields that are lying fallow in the hands of multinationals. As we renew leases, we are going to be looking at how you can do it yourself or we come in to help you to release some of those fields so local players will get a sizeable hold into some of the fields that are not commercial for the majors.

“We have tonnes of acreages that are just lying down; nothing can be done about them. They are tied up by legal challenges. We need to sort of open up the fields.”

Also, he revealed that Indigenous operators’ contribution to national oil production is currently around 11 per cent.

“I would like to see that grow to about 30 per cent in the next couple of years,” Kachikwu said.