By Bassey Udo
With the take off of the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) is determined to take advantage of the business and investment opportunities the new legislation has provided to earn more revenue for the country.
The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company, Mele Kyari urged staff of the organisation to be prepared to work with the management to realise this objective.
Kyari spoke during the townhall meeting held simultaneously at the weekend, physically at NNPC Towers in Abuja, and virtually with staff of the strategic business units (SBUs) outside the Corporate Headquarters (CHQs).
Apart from strengthening the regulatory, legal and fiscal frameworks of the laws guiding the operations of the Upstream and Downstream sectors of the oil and gas industries, the PIA created in addition the Midstream sector.
The Midstream sector creates opportunities to be engaged in various activities, including storage, processing, and transportation of petroleum products as well as oil and gas tanker ships, pipelines or storage facilities operations.
Also, the new sector provides opportunities to harness the country’s huge gas potentials, in terms of distribution, transportation and domestic utilisation infrastructures.
Highlighting the significance of the PIA to the NNPC, and by extension the Nigerian economy, Kyari said the new legislation has raised shareholders’ expectations on the company, even as it has given it a wide room to make progress.
The PIA, the CEO said, has put “all money-making options on the table. It is up to us to take full advantage of it and earn more revenue for the government.”
As a result of the new legislation, he said NNPC Ltd would not only shed some of its toxic liabilities, but would strive to operate profitably, to remain the largest and most capitalised company in the whole of Africa and, potentially, the most profitable on the entire continent.
The CEO charged employees of the organisation to ensure the company becomes a commercially-viable entity and a multi-billion-dollar company that would continuously deliver value to its over 200 million Nigerians, who are its shareholders.
