The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Paul Arkwright, has told the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that his government would invest substantial sums to upgrade Nigeria's pipeline network, renewable energy facilities and gas and power infrastructure.

He added that there are many interested parties in the UK but the administrative process of obtaining a visa to travel to Nigeria was putting a lot of potential investors off.

The NNPC noted that there was a $10 billion investment deficit in the Nigerian energy sector.

In a positive message, the NNPC recorded a decline in the incidents of oil pipeline breaks in line with the steady reduction in pipeline vandalism from the sustained community engagement initiative of the federal government.

According to the NNPC, the number of pipeline breaks recorded within the period stood at 55, a number it said was an improvement from the 82 it recorded in April 2017. “This figure represents about 33per cent reduction relative to the previous months and also a remarkable improvement to corresponding period of May 2016 which recorded 260 cases,” said the NNPC