By Michael Eboh

The World Bank has promised to provide funding for Nigeria’s petroleum sector, while it also expressed support for the ongoing reforms.

In a statement, yesterday, NNPC said the Managing Director of the World Bank, Sri Mulyani Indrawati made this known when she paid a visit to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, in Abuja.

She commended the Federal Government for bringing transparency and accountability to bear on NNPC operations and the entire oil and gas industry, adding that the 20 fixes introduced by Kachikwu to NNPC business models have gone a long way to reform the Corporation for profitability.

She said the World Bank was ready and available to offer the ministry technical support, advice and funding, stressing that sound policy thrust is key in the areas of fiscal direction, gas flare out and gas to power.

In response, Kachikwu said since assumption of duty in August last year, a lot of reforms ranging from the first phase of restructuring and the recent restructuring have served as enablers for the introduction of new business models that have drastically reduced the losses recorded by the NNPC in the past.

Meanwhile, the minister and his Aviation counterpart, Senator Hadi Sirika, has pledged to work together to eliminate the challenge faced by airline operators in accessing aviation fuel for daily operations.