Abuja — Central Bank Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, has urged the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to continue with the reforms in the petroleum sector irrespective of the prevailing challenges, saying they were critical to the banking sector in Nigeria.

The CBN governor posited that reforms were always confronted with challenges and expressed his readiness to partner with the NNPC as it transformed into a profit- making national oil company that would boost the national treasury.

A statement from the NNPC yesterday which said the governor stated this when the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Mohammed Barkindo, visited the CBN, quoted him saying: "For us in the CBN, we are totally in support of the PIB and we are totally in support of deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry because it would create a conducive environment that will ultimately attract investors into the Nigerian economy."

According to the statement, Barkindo has solicited the cooperation of the CBN in the ongoing reform of the oil and gas sector for it to impact positively on the Nigerian economy.

Barkindo described the petroleum sector reform and the banking industry reform as major catalysts that were critical to the growth and development of the country.

"Our industry, together with yours, has been intertwined for as long as I can remember and for us in the Nigerian economy the duo are inseparable. When we embarked on the reforms in the oil and gas sector, it became obvious that the reform must include the reform in the financial sector. The impact of the financial market on oil and gas has become more and more evident even before the global meltdown", he stated.

Barkindo averred that the complete disconnect between the oil market and the supply demand fundamentals in 2008 led to several abnormalities in the global financial sector, which affected the dollar negatively.

The NNPC helmsman maintained that for the Petroleum Industry Bill to succeed there was every need for the corporation to partner with the banking sector.

According to him, "Coming back home, we have seen the challenges of post-consolidation, we have seen how the financial market impacted on the marketing sub-sector. Therefore, the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Bill, when passed into law, the reforms that will sweep through the oil and gas sector would be massive and can only be achieved with a holistic synergy with the banking sector".

The GMD added that the PIB, when passed by the National Assembly, would transform the corporation from a cost centre to a profit centre that would be capitalised into an incorporated joint venture in a bid to move from a quasi-government agency to a well-run national oil company.

Barkindo lauded President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua for his efforts to reform the key sectors of the economy, expressing optimism that the reforms would put the Nigerian oil and gas industry into global reckoning.