Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has said her tenure as minister opened up the downstream Oil Sector so many areas previously handled by foreign subsidiaries were taken up by Nigerian marketers in the downstream service sector.
Alison-Madueke in an interview with Thisday said “We opened up the sector to ensure that hundreds of Nigerians came into the downstream sector and that so many areas hitherto handled by foreign subsidiaries were taken up by Nigerian marketers in the downstream service sector.
“The number of marine vessels owned and operated by Nigerians rose substantially, the number of rigs owned by Nigerians rose substantially, pipeline fabrication, pipe mills and other varied areas of supply and fabrication within the downstream sector also grew, such that over 300,000 direct and indirect jobs have been created over the last four years.
“ In the same vein, we ensured that our support for local content also permeated the upstream as well, such that for the first time in history, companies and multinationals such as Shell, Chevron, etc, began to divest their producing assets to Nigerians within the upstream operating sector who could actually take on those assets and who could actually meet the very stringent fiscal terms needed to operate those assets and also take up those area of intense capacity building and expertise to begin to operate in the Nigerian upstream market.”
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