The newly elected President of the Organisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has said that
her priority in the next one year would be to stabilise crude oil
price.
The Minister who is coming on board the 12-member cartel organisation at a time crude oil price has fallen below $70 per barrel in a five-year low record, would certainly be faced with daunting challenges.
Fielding questions from State House Correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, Alison- Madueke said her emergence as OPEC President was a fallout of the courage demonstrated by President Jonathan in appointing a woman as Minister of Petroleum Resources.On specific proposals she would be canvassing as OPEC President to ensure Nigeria does not bear the brunt of current slide in oil price. The Minister said it was time for Nigeria to be more competitive, saying the country cannot continue to carry out business as usual.
She explained that from the viewpoint of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria has to be much more competitive at this time and going into the future because it cannot continue to do business as usual.
The OPEC boss maintained that Nigeria must ensure that it has the right enabling parameters and indices to attract the right end-user markets and demand for its products because there are so many other countries that would be competing for those end-user markets and end-user demand.
Going forward, she said the country would need to return to the drawing board and reformulate its entire approach to ensure it is at the cutting edge of competitiveness.
On her emergence as OPEC President, she said, “first, it wouldn’t have happened if President Goodluck Jonathan had not had the courage to appoint a woman into the portfolio of Ministry of Petroleum Resources, which meant that I am automatically the leader of the country’s delegation to OPEC. I must say that that was daunting. It happened about three and half years ago.
I went into a body which is completely male dominated and mostly Arab dominated as well. But I have found that they have come to respect me and respect Nigeria’s voice over the last three years in OPEC.
The Minister admitted that this period remained a challenging one for all OPEC members, especially Nigeria whose revenue is largely dependent on oil.
The Minister who is coming on board the 12-member cartel organisation at a time crude oil price has fallen below $70 per barrel in a five-year low record, would certainly be faced with daunting challenges.
Fielding questions from State House Correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, Alison- Madueke said her emergence as OPEC President was a fallout of the courage demonstrated by President Jonathan in appointing a woman as Minister of Petroleum Resources.On specific proposals she would be canvassing as OPEC President to ensure Nigeria does not bear the brunt of current slide in oil price. The Minister said it was time for Nigeria to be more competitive, saying the country cannot continue to carry out business as usual.
She explained that from the viewpoint of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Nigeria has to be much more competitive at this time and going into the future because it cannot continue to do business as usual.
The OPEC boss maintained that Nigeria must ensure that it has the right enabling parameters and indices to attract the right end-user markets and demand for its products because there are so many other countries that would be competing for those end-user markets and end-user demand.
Going forward, she said the country would need to return to the drawing board and reformulate its entire approach to ensure it is at the cutting edge of competitiveness.
On her emergence as OPEC President, she said, “first, it wouldn’t have happened if President Goodluck Jonathan had not had the courage to appoint a woman into the portfolio of Ministry of Petroleum Resources, which meant that I am automatically the leader of the country’s delegation to OPEC. I must say that that was daunting. It happened about three and half years ago.
I went into a body which is completely male dominated and mostly Arab dominated as well. But I have found that they have come to respect me and respect Nigeria’s voice over the last three years in OPEC.
The Minister admitted that this period remained a challenging one for all OPEC members, especially Nigeria whose revenue is largely dependent on oil.
