He said that the US administration had always considered Nigeria as an ally and one its most important partners in Africa. Kumar, who is leading a delegation on trade promotion, said that Washington appreciated Nigeria’s aspirations to move forward, describing this as a necessity to bring in ``predictability’’ in terms of commerce and industry between both countries, and particularly highlighted transparency and a level playing field to this end.

The Assistant Secretary said that it was important to apply the rules of engagement to ensure a common platform in order that American companies could participate fairly and freely.

``We do not want to see any blocks or impediments on our trade and investments. `We support those timelines in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill at the National Assembly and look forward to doing more business with you,’’ Kumar pointed out.

He said that the US Administration also supports Nigeria’s quest for a free and transparent polls in April coupled with the country’s determination to put its electoral process on the right track.

``We share these ideals and look forward to doing more transparent business with Nigeria,’’ Kumar added.

Earlier, Oniwon had told the delegation that the NNPC was happy with the existing level of cooperation and partnership with American conglomerates in Nigeria, especially in the oil, gas and power sectors.

These firms include Chevron , ExxonMobil, ConocoPhilips as well as some service firms, including Halliburton, Schlumberger and General Electrics. He said that Nigeria was probably the single largest supplier of crude to America.

``We hope to continue to grow this business relationship’’ he indicated, before pledging that the corporation would also strive to grow its shale gas to fill the energy supply gap in the American market.
Oniwon informed the delegation of the current transformation process at the corporation, saying the NNPC would at the end of the industrial reform, transform into an integrated, profit-oriented national oil company (NOC) that would be self-financing and self-sustaining. -APA