Nigeria's oil drying up, banks scared to invest in sector - Oni

A report by the Nigerian Tribune says the datat was submitted to financial and geological institutions and that it was processed and reeled out by Pan-Africa Bank, the Ecobank Group.

It is however not known if this report includes oil just discovered in some other states like Benue, Ondo and Lagos or just the Niger Delta region.

Dolapo Oni, the head of energy research of the Ecobank Group, was said to have revealed this in a presentation at a retreat in Lagos recently.

Oni claimed the country was left with 55 years of production while Libya still has 189 years to produce crude oil from its reserves.

“For the size of our country, our oil production is too small. A country of about 170 million people that produces 2.2 million barrels daily is doing a little. Fifty years of production compared to Libya, which has 189 years.

“Oil reserves data of petroleum industry’s regulatory agencies collated by the bank from other countries also showed that Kazakstan has 48 years oil production lifespan; Angola has 27 years, Brazil is left with 13 years and Algeria has 28 years of crude oil production,”he said stating that Nigeria has 38 billion barrels in its reserves.

Oni further declared that the daily production of about 1.4 million barrels in Nigeria means that the country would finish up the reserves in about 55 years and in less than 55 years if it jerks up production above 1.4 million barrels.
“With the aid of technology and huge investments, Nigeria has, at least, 600 trillion cubic feet of gas, as well as 22 billion barrels of oil undiscovered in its offshore acreages, whereas Nigerian banks, expected to participate actively in the investments, are stressed.
“Banks are stressed as we speak. I said this with a caveat and the reason for this is that our (Nigeria banks’) books are too exposed to oil and gas,”he said.

Oni painted a fearful picture when he said no bank in Nigeria would plunge investment in the oil and gas this year.

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“If you sit with banks these days, what they tell you is that they don’t have money to invest in oil and gas.
“I don’t see any of the banks investing in oil and gas this year. Tier-2 banks have gone to the market to raise funds, and as it stands, they may look towards oil and gas next year because oil and gas remains one of the very few sectors where you can invest and get high returns,”he added.