From its takeoff on April 1 1977 as a merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation (NNOC) and the federal ministry of petroleum and energy resources, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) witnessed key transformations towards a value addition pathway.
It has been over a year since the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021 came up, berthing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd from its precursor, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC].
In a statement last weekend, the management of the NNPC Ltd led by Mele Kyari, provided insight into of the achievements of NNPC Ltd, stressing that the milestones were powered by the reforms that peaked with the introduction of the Petroleum Industry Act [PIA]
According to the company, more than ever before, it has recorded land mark successes in the area of onslaught against perennial oil thieves who hitherto enjoyed free day.
Others are the acquisition of 380 Oando retail stations, its corporatization, interventions in road projects and its entire future looking branding for cleaner energy for today and tomorrow.
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The company said in February 2022, it mobilized to fix 21 major highways through the federal ministry of works and housing in a N621billion deal. It is generating revenue for this through the novel NNPC tax credit scheme as a response to calls from Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to fix major roads that have hampered the smooth distribution of petroleum products nationwide.
Some of the projects are Suleja-Minna highway, where two oil depots are situated; the Lambata-Lapai-Bida road in Niger State, another highway linking the West with North.
According to details of the 2023 budget proposal, over N650million has been pegged for fixing roads leading to NNPC depots and other petroleum product distribution arteries.
They include the rehabilitation of the Aba-Owerri road NNPC depot expressway in Abia; Lagos-Badagry expressway; access road to Apapa/Tincan Island Port – NNPC depot; Apapa/Tincan Island Port – NNPC Atlas Cove; and special repairs of Jos-Jengre Kan Iyaka road section (NNPC depot-Jengre) in Plateau.
In the area of conflict resolution, the NNPC said it has resolved oil well disputes between its partners and an expansion of petroleum retail outlets to over 1,500 units from about 500 units.
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In August, the NNPC Ltd, partners resolved a $9billion dispute and signed pacts for six oilfields, while also launching a crude oil monitoring system.
Kyari said the lingering disputes had attracted $9billion contingency liability, but that it has been resolved and the partners signed new oil production pacts for the renewed Oil Mining Leases (OMLs) for six oil fields, comprising OMLs 125, 128, 130, 132, 133 and 138, for 20 years.
“The DSA has put aside all contingent liabilities of about $9billion reduced to a bottom line that all of us can accept, but this wouldn’t have happened if our partners didn’t give us certain rights and obligations.
“With the signing of the DSA and the new PSC, investments will come back and there will be more expansion for the petroleum industry,” he said
NNPC said despite the Russia and Ukraine faceoff\challenge, the organization has maintained federal government’s quest to subside petrol at N6.5trillion annually.
The NNPC said it only became the last resort for petrol import in 2017 after high cost drove away oil marketing companies. The company noted that if not for the subsidy, Nigerians would have been buying petrol at N462/litre.
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To strengthen and widen its frontiers, early in October, the NNPC Ltd acquired 380 Oando stations and other assets nationwide from OVH Energy. With that, the company officially became present in Togo as it marches to becoming a pan-African venture.
“The acquisition will bring over 380 additional filling stations under the NNPC retail brand in Nigeria and Togo on our journey to attaining 1,500 stations. We will be the largest petroleum product retail network in Africa,” Kyari noted.
The new assets also include a reception jetty with 240,000 tonnes monthly capacity in Lagos, eight LPG plants, three lubes blending plants, three aviation depots, and 12 warehouses.
The NNPC as a limited liability concern, on October 4, 2022, declared a N674billion net profit for the 2021 financial year. That was a 134.8% rise from the N287billion it recorded in 2020.
Kyari said the company was driven squarely by upstream activities, including oil and gas and power.
“We have recorded significant improvement in our financial performance over the past three years, turning up the curve from losses to profits,” Kyari said, adding that profit would have been more but for the massive crude oil theft with the industry losing about 200,000 barrels per day to thieves
He said but for the issues that resulted to the shutting down of pipelines, with a 2.4million barrels per day capacity, the daily production issues held against the country by OPEC would not have stood.
Following up on this has been a massive ongoing onslaught against oil theft, especially in the Niger Delta creeks through a partnership with security agencies and a contract with Tantita Security Services Ltd belonging to ex-agitator, Government Tompolo. Already, illegal pipelines have been discovered, as well as vessels and crew involved in the heinous activities.
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At the India Nigeria LPG Summit it organized in Abuja, the company said its target was to rise from the current 1.7m volume of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) annually.
The NNPC Ltd is aligned with the federal government’s National Gas Expansion Programme (NGEP) and the National LPG Expansion Plan, which he said would create a Gas Funding Company Ltd for the injection of 20million cylinders in the next.
Among the frontal gas projects coordinated by the NNPC so far is the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano gas (AKK) project from Ajaokuta in Kogi State. Nigeria recently signed a contract to extend a gas pipeline to Morocco, which could be a potential exporting gas to Europe when completed in about five years.
Last Thursday in South Korea, the NNPC Ltd and Daewoo Group signed a pact for the rehabilitation of the Kaduna refinery. The deal came on the back of the ongoing rehabilitation works at Warri refinery by Daewoo Group, which will at the first instance, deliver fuel production before the first half of 2023.
The NNPC also said the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt was ongoing and would begin to deliver petrol within a similar period.
However, some observers believe that despite the sterling one year, scorecard, the NNPC needs to do more to clear the perennial fuel scarcity this year for Nigerians to benefit from the reforms.
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