The Director /Chief Executive Officer, Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) Mr Sarki Auwalu says the department, as a business enabler, would support the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to deliver value to Nigerians.
Auwalu gave the assurance when a delegation of NNPC management team led by the Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari, visited the DPR, in Abuja, on Tuesday.
He said that as a regulator, it does not stand to look for faults, rather, it helps operators to deliver on business mandates to boost economic activities.
“Being a regulator is trying to catch people that you regulate doing something right, not the other way round; it is better for us to come together like you have done today.
“The most important thing for us is to help operators do something right. Our own is to enable business and create opportunity, and for everything we do, especially for our own company like NNPC, it is to ensure success of the company.
“This is because the success of the company is the success of Nigeria, and coming together like this is great, and that is why we are excited that the GMD and his team is visiting us, the first in history of this organisation,’’ he said.
According to him, the move goes down to change the history and to prove that they are all for Nigeria and success of the business of oil and gas in our country.
He said that working together would encourage transparency and efficiency, adding that it was commitment to business and efficiency that brought the NNPC to a profit company.
Auwalu commended the GMD for the various landmarks he had created that had helped to transform the operations of the NNPC which history would not forget.
“Today in the whole world after 44 years, this is the first year NNPC has recovered and declared profit. “We are so proud of it and we put our head high in the comity of nations that our biggest corporation in Nigeria is no longer the way it is being seen,’’ he said.
He noted that energy security and availability of gas through the East West pipeline (OB3), Trans Niger pipeline which the GMD was championing would help to tackle poverty in the country.
He thanked Kyari for making out time to come and visit the DPR and assured him of support of the department to create success in all the corporation was doing.
“What we are doing is to guarantee the success and stability of what you have already done.“ DPR, looking at the success and strategy you embarked on, had created a platform to help consolidate the assets, the licenses, permits and approvals we have issued,’’ he said.
He noted that DPR was committed to oil exploration in the country and appreciated effort of NNPC to ensure that more volumes were out to help the country make more money through royalties.
Auwulu also commended NNPC’s effort to enhance production and encourage new production reservoirs.
He noted that the reserve to production ratio was not equal, adding that the profit declared by NNPC had opened a floodgate for investors to the country.
Responding, Kyari thanked the DPR for the support it had been giving to the corporation, which had helped the NNPC operations. He said that the aim of the visit was to demonstrate how high the corporation held DPR and its strategy as a business enabler.
“The fate of the oil and gas industry rests in the hands of DPR and the NNPC, and by implication, the prosperity of the country rests in the hands of the two organisation’s. “As we go through the journey of transition to deepen gas penetration and monitisation in the country, to ensure that we create new gas industry, to process new oil, everything leads to making sure there is prosperity in the country.
“Nigerians depend on DPR and NNPC to bring prosperity to this country and therefore as a regulator, you are also the supporter of the National oil company.
“Your presence is to help the National oil company to deliver value to all of us and for us in NNPC, it is our responsibility to make sure that we comply with every regulation to make sure that we are doing the right thing,’’ he said.
Kyari urged the DPR to continue to enable the NNPC to deliver value to all Nigerians
By Edith Ike-Eboh
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