President-elect Muhammadu Buhari has blamed politicians for the slow rate of development in the nation’s oil and gas sector.
He said this when he received a delegation from Total Oil Exploration and Production Group who were on a congratulatory visit.
Buhari said the slow progress recorded in the development of the country’s gas production and distribution infrastructure was due to sabotage by politicians and inefficiency by the officials.
The Chief Executive Officer of Total Group, Mr. Patrick Pouyanne, however, assured that his company was doing its best to assuage the pains of Nigerians with the ongoing fuel scarcity. It has therefore directed its downstream subsidiary to ensure all-round supply of petroleum product to its 500 distribution outlets throughout the country.
“We have discussed and I think some solutions are being implemented. Our downstream subsidiary, Total Nigeria Plc, is doing its best in order to supply its 500 outstations throughout the country with fuel to help check the scarcity.
“Nigeria is an important nation in our business outlook. It presently accounts for over 10 per cent of Total Group’s investment worldwide. We are not just involved in the Upstream and natural gas production, but in the downstream operations.
“We are deeply concerned on the current challenges being witnessed in Nigeria and global oil market,” he said.
