Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the establishment of oil and gas parks in Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa states.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, said in Abuja after the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa that the parks, which would cost over N3 billion and would be used for the production of oil and gas tools.
“Today, in council, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented two memos for the establishment of oil and gas parks.
“Council approved the oil and gas council one for Akwa Ibom State and the other in Bayelsa State.
“The oil and gas parks are to support the development and manufacture of oil and gas tools; as some of you know, in some countries, the service sector of the oil industry is sometimes even bigger than the oil industry itself.
“Unfortunately, in Nigeria, that sector has not grown so much; this administration is really committed to developing the service sector and that is why the oil and gas parks are being built,’’ he said.
Sylva said that the parks would create up to 1000 additional jobs as well as improve the security of the Niger Delta.
MM/GIK/APA