First Bank pledges financial support for oil&gas operators

Adesola Adeduntan, FirstBank of Nigeria, MD

First Bank of Nigeria Limited has promised operators in the oil and gas sector will continue to receive financial support that their company is in need of to grow efficiently in the industry.
The Chief Executive Officer of FBN, Adesola Adeduntan stated that the company has products tailored to meet the financial needs of operators in the oil and gas sector, which will boost their profitability.

Adeduntan who was represented by the bank’s Executive Director, Public Sector, Abdullahi Ibrahim at the Energy Finance Forum sponsored by the bank at the recently concluded Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) in Abuja, assured operators of profitable business partnership.
During the session themed, “Financiers and the petroleum industry: Gaining mutual understanding to grow”, he told delegates at the summit that the bank had been supporting the oil and gas sector with funds through some of its products that provide finance for oil contracts.
The session reviewed the regional and global cost curves and provided a unique opportunity for oil and gas, power, pipeline, infrastructure and construction industry executives, security analysts, portfolio managers, rating agencies and bankers to evaluate the outlook for the petroleum industry response to the funding and investment gap.

Adeduntan disclosed during the seminar that accelerating development needs infrastructure finance, while adding that attracting long-term investment to the oil and gas sector needs establishment of appropriate regulatory environment.
According to him, First Bank’s oil industry contract finance product was designed to meet the funding requirements of indigenous oil and gas companies who were either customers or prospects of the bank.

“This has been beneficial to operators in the sector and it has increased their profitability and impacted greatly on their operations over the years,” Adeduntan said.
Registered members who are existing or new customer of FBN have been receiving support from the lender, and according to Adeduntan, the bank had been providing finance for stock of white petroleum products in the downstream oil sector.