Following its determination to boost local refining of petroleum products, the federal government has directed the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee to work out funding strategies towards the realisation of this target.

Specifically, President Goodluck Jonathan has directed the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Ministry of Finance to set up an inter-ministerial committee to fashion out modalities for raising financial support for indigenous oil companies to bring in modular refineries.

This was disclosed in the latest edition of Performance Monitoring (PM) Review, a publication of the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Performance Monitoring and Evaluation, titled; Nigeria Investors' Haven.

The publication explained that the support would be for firms that are ready to invest, not only in production but also in refining, to add value to crude oil and gas locally before exporting in order to generate money for the country and employment for the youth.

"The federal government has also pledged its support for indigenous oil companies that are willing to invest in every area of the value chain of the oil and gas sector," the publication informed.

The publication stated that already "the ministry of petroleum is currently working with the ministry of finance to set up an inter-ministerial committee to work out ways to give financial support to indigenous companies to bring in modular refineries."

On the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) the publication noted that apart from providing a healthy deregulated environment for private sector participation in the downstream sector, the Bill offers a "refreshing fiscal regime with strong incentive for production."

"There is a strong fiscal regime on royalty and tax which is now predicated on production as opposed to terrain and investment as was previously done," it noted.

It added that royalty by production will now capture the output of a company as opposed to its location and will create a fair balance between small and big operators in the same terrain while also giving operators the opportunity to make fair returns during field decline.

The Bill it noted also proposes lower rates on condensate from large fields as well as ultra-deep water fields.