Fahad Al Taffaq, the UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, made the remark when he visited the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timpre Sylva, in Abuja on Wednesday.
In a statement signed by Alhaji Garba Deen Muhammad, the spokesman for the minister, Al Taffaq, lauded the agile leadership of Buhari in stabilising the oil and gas sector.
He also applauded the competence shown by the minister and the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Malam Mele Kyari, in the sector.
He expressed the UAE’s commitment to investing in Nigeria’s petroleum sector and promised to facilitate high level bilateral opportunities that would deepen the cooperation between both countries.
Al Taffaq reiterated the need to deepen the existing collaboration between Nigeria and the UAE.
He promised to facilitate opportunities that would see to the creation of brand-new projects in the short, medium and long term for the benefit of the two countries.
Responding, Sylva said that 2020 remained an important year for Nigerian as it proposed marginal field rounds and major bid rounds in the oil and gas sector.
Marginal Field refers to an oil field that may not produce enough net income to make it worth developing at a given time.
He said “2020 is an important year for Nigeria with the proposed marginal field rounds and major bid rounds.”
According to him, the UAE has the financial muscle to fully participate in the process.
However; should technical or economic conditions change, such a field may become commercial field, NAN reports.
It is usually associated with small pockets of hydrocarbons that have a plateau of a few years.
He noted Nigeria values its relationship with the UAE and would continue to sustain it.
THISDAY