Energy, finance experts meet on funding of petroleum projects

Energy, finance experts meet on funding of petroleum projects Ayodele Samuel, Lagos Stakeholders in the finance and petroleum sectors in the Nigerian economy will on December 4 meet to address issues and challenges affecting the funding oil and gas projects.> The event, which is a one-day workshop being organized by the Nigerian association of Energy Correspondents (NAEC), is> expected to provide financial service providers the> opportunity to take position on existing policies on local> content development of the industry. > According to a statement from the association, the workshop> became most necessary because of the performance of both the> indigenous petroleum firms and banks in trapping> opportunities in funding of oil and gas industry projects. > The Nigerian Content Development (NCD) policy, the> association noted, was designed to address the dearth of> local capacity and participation of indigenous companies in> the nation’s energy sector, but regretted that significant> effort has not made as most of the oil and gas firms are> still faced with the problem of finance. The workshop, NAEC stressed, would help the Federal> Government fashion out the policy that would be central to> comprehensive national agenda, adding that it would> reposition the Nigeria’s economy to take full advantage of> human and natural resources.> The statement added: “The central challenge has always> been funding of strategic investment to realize the national> aspiration. Our association is providing the platform for> major players and stakeholders to interact and share ideas> on how to tackle this challenge and optimise the gains of> the NCD policy.” > The recent bank re-capitalization and consolidation> programme initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN),> NAEC stated, was geared towards making the banks garner the> financial strength to compete with other players around the> world in the provision of a broader range of financial> services in the industry.> Among the services are securitization of underwriting> insurance and brokerage services in oil and gas industry,> which had been the exclusive preserve of foreign insurance> companies.