Timipre Sylva, minister of state for petroleum resources, says COVID-19 has helped to reduce the cost of oil production.
Speaking at a news briefing on Tuesday in Abuja, Sylva said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) have launched programmes on cost reduction which have impacted the oil industry.
He added that “what also helped us in reducing the cost of production is from a very unlikely quarter and that is COVID-19”.
“With COVID-19, oil prices crashed and a lot of contracts were rationalised and we had to renegotiate, so, we were able at that point to get everybody on board to reduce the cost of production,” he said.
“Also, the fact that a lot of expatriates left because of COVID-19 made our locals step in and of course, the locals are cheaper and we have to find local solutions to some of our problems.
