The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has declared that the Federal Government would from 2018, stop sponsorship of delegates to the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC).
Kachikwu made the disclosure in Houston on Tuesday at a meeting with investors, business owners, and stakeholders in the oil and gas sector.
The OTC is an annual event that brings together experts in the oil and gas sector to brainstorm and network on issues and challenges in the field.
The minister said that 250 delegates from Nigeria attended the 2016 edition of the conference while 50 delegates attended the 2017 edition.
He pledged to work hard to ensure that the number was reduced to 20 in 2018.
“There will no longer be sponsorship for delegates to the OTC except for technical experts,“he said.
Kachikwu said that anyone wishing to attend the conference in future should sponsor himself.
Declaring open Nigeria’s pavilion at the exhibition centre, Kachikwu said that deliberations at this year’s conference was expected to produce workable solutions that would impact on Nigeria’s development.