THIS DAY
•Says national oil firm to announce IPO launch soon
•Producers call for speedy closure of ongoing IOCs’ divestments
•OPEC insists calls to halt fossils funding will be devastating to Nigeria, others
Emmanuel Addeh and Peter Uzoho in Abuja
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, yesterday disclosed that going forward, the national oil company may soon begin the divestment of some of its assets to its competitors in the oil and gas industry.
Kyari, who was speaking against the backdrop of recent accusations that the NNPC was in the habit of blocking some operators from successfully completing assets divestments, explained that if the need arises, the NNPC will exit its current Petroleum Sharing Contracts (PSC) arrangements with some operators and source for funding under Incorporated Joint Venture (IJV) arrangement.
He made the comments at the ongoing Nigerian Oil and Gas Energy (NOG) Week in Abuja, with the theme: “Powering Nigeria’s Sustainable Energy Future”.
The GCEO who reiterated that the oil firm would soon achieve its aim of going public with its planned Initial Public Offer (IPO), clarified that with the Petroleum Industry (Act), the NNPC no longer enjoys any undue advantage and would henceforth operate like other commercially-oriented companies in the sector.
According to the NNPC chief executive, because the national oil firm no longer makes the rules or gets any assistance from the government, it is now just acting as an agent of government which will always get paid for its services.
He reasoned that with the new law guiding the industry, the NNPC is now well positioned to operate as a world-class profit-driven entity that would ensure payment of taxes, royalties as well as dividends to the government and shareholders.
“I can tell you we are a competition. We are NNPC limited. We don’t create rules anymore. We are regulated. We are the competition. We will pay taxes, will pay royalties, like any one of you here; we will also pay dividend to our shareholders which includes many of you in this hall.
“So we are in business as a competition, we are private sector. Forget about the fact that we are owned today by government 100 per cent. And by the way, you are also aware that we’re doing our Initial Public Offer (IPO) very soon,” he assured.
The GCEO who delivered his keynote address on: ‘’Redefining Nigeria’s Energy Landscape for a Sustainable Energy Future’’, said that what had held NNPC back in the past wasn’t lack of trying, but the operating environment without a clear enabling fiscal and legal environment.
He reiterated the key initiatives currently in the works for to expand gas infrastructure and deliver gas across West Africa and potentially, Europe as well as the expansion of liquefaction capacity of NLNG and ramp up access to domestic gas use.
He added that strategic decisions like subsidy removal have already paved the way for positive change in the sector, while freeing up capital for powering the sustainable supply of energy.
He said: “Are we positioned to facilitate business? Yes, but our partnership produced over 80 percent of the oil and gas in the country, either directly or through our off stream company or through our partnership
“I’m in a position to facilitate business. On the PSC today, we are just agents of the state, trying to make sure we deliver value to them and then they will pay…
