Nigerians in Diaspora to invest in JDZ oil blocs

Nigerians in the Diaspora are poised to partner with Nigerian winners of oil blocs in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) which Nigeria co-owns with the island of Sao Tome and Principe.

This follows revelations at the on-going investment forum in Washington D.C that the Federal Government is more disposed to awarding the blocs to Nigerian oil minors instead of the majors.

A good number of those who participated in the investment forum were excited at the revelation by the Director General of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Ndi Okereke -Onyiuke that the government is willing to encourage Nigerians who are interested in investing in oil blocs in the JDZ.
Many who may have haboured fears of being swindled by channelling their money through the wrong hands, recieved the assurance of the Director-General that the exchange, banks and stockbrokers would give them! names of genuine oil companies that won bids for the oil blocs while providing them with necessary contact with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Nigerian-Americans were particularly impressed with the information that oil deposits in the JDZ require less exploration cost. Experts beleive that the interest of this group of Nigerians is a welcome development against the backdrop that most winners may possess the skill and not have the money to invest, a development that has partly hampered the development of the marginal oil fields in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, a Nigerian living in the United State who is also the Managing Director of Atlantic Wealthfield Petroleum and Gas, Kelly Osifo, has attributed the poor state of refineries in Nigeria to the corrupt and unpatriotic tendencies of a few Nigerians, who out of enthrenched interests are swinddling the NNPC and DPR of large sums of money. Some of these individuals, he said, make huge money by selling crude and i! mporting refined products at the expense of the two government agencies, adding that this results in these agencies not making profit while the frauds live in affluence.
Osifo, whose company imports natural gas and black oil to the US from North Africa, said getting such products from Nigeria has been an uphill task due to the activities of this group as well as the unpatriotic activities of multinational oil companies.

On the way out of the present fuel crisis in Nigeria, Osifo suggested the auctioning of the refineries to competent private sector operators and not to these few unscrupulous Nigerians.