By Edith Ike-Eboh/Emmanuel Afonne
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) started its activities for the new week with a meeting with major marketers of petroleum products in the nations downstream sector.
The aim of the meeting was to grow a strong determination to sustain energy security for the country and avoid diversion of petroleum products.
The meeting which held at the NNPC Towers, Abuja, had in attendance the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) and Independent Marketers, on the need to curb products diversion.
The Group Executive Director, Downstream who was represented by the Managing Director (MD), Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Mr Isiyaku Abdullahi, said that NNPC as the sole importer of petroleum products was in a critical situation that required the solid cooperation of the marketers to sustain product availability to Nigerians and reduce burden of high evacuation costs on government in terms of under-recovery.
Abdullahi said that the company was concerned that in spite of the high truck-out of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from depots across the country, the market was still experiencing shortfalls, noting that diversion of products had been identified as a likely reason for the gap.
He appealed to the marketers to activate the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) component of their businesses to support both the Federal Government and the NNPC in sustaining energy security for Nigeria.
Abdullahi stressed that such gesture would help in cushioning the effect of the current global energy crisis.
On his part, the Executive Secretary of MOMAN, Mr Clement Isong, said that NNPC was playing a key role in keeping the country well supplied in terms of petroleum products, especially at a critical time when the world faced inflationary problems.
Speaking in a similar vein, the Executive Secretary of DAPPMAN, Mr Olufemi Adewole, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the meeting, assuring that DAPPMAN as a responsible organisation is committed to ensuring efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.
Meanwhile, the NNPC Ltd. cautioned that the current price volatility in the global energy was likely to worsen if banks and other financial institutions continue to avoid funding gas projects.
The Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., Malam Mele Kyari, gave the warning at the 28th World Gas Conference 2022 which held at Daegu, South Korea.
Kyari who spoke against the backdrop of stifling funding for new oil and gas projects due to environmental concerns said: In many jurisdictions, gas is nearly always associated.
So, you have to turn the table to see if you can get non-associated gas so that banks and financial institutions can put their money into it.
If that doesnt happen, then you sure have the constraints of financing and the opportunity will now turn into a crisis.
I think that is what we are trying to solve to see how we can turn this so that the facility that we are building or the facilities we are going to build will have enough gas to process and deliver into the market.
Honestly, it is a huge opportunity for the financing sector, I know for sure in our own perspective we have seen a number of projects that can come up very quickly.
Mostly, the LNG facilities where you can convert gas to chemicals and these are really coming up in their numbers across many National Oil Companies (NOCs) that I am aware of.
The immediate future is getting the right financing, the right mix, and also for the finance institutions to recognise that except they invest today, what we are seeing today in terms of pricing can be something much more to manage in the next two three years to come.
Kyari said the NNPC Ltd. was not averse to the push for carbon neutrality, adding that funding gas projects was a vital decision to be made to avert future crises.
At the 26th Conference of Parties (COP26) which held in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021, African countries advocated for energy justice in the drive for transition to cleaner fuels.
In another development, the NNPC Ltd. set record as the first exploration and production company to acquire environmental audit certification in the Federal Capital territory, Abuja, since the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) law was establishment about 30 years ago.
The attainment of this feat by the Company was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Environment, Mr Hassan Musa, during the presentation of a certificate of Environmental Audit to the NNPC at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.
The Permanent Secretary who was represented by the Director, Environmental Assessment, Dr Abbas Suleman, commended the NNPC for its consistency and commitment to environmental global best practices.
Hassan stated that though environmental audit was a legal requirement by federal law, the bold step taken by the current NNPC Management to carry out an environmental impact assessment of the NNPC Towers reinforces the companys reputation as a law abiding and responsible corporate citizen.
Narrating his experience with the company during the audit exercise, the Permanent Secretary said that he saw firsthand the Managements commitment to performance excellence, adding: NNPC does its things gently, quietly and steadily with the whole idea of achieving positive results.
Speaking at the event, the Group Executive Director (GED) Corporate Services, Mrs Aisha Katagum, who was represented by the Group General Manager, Human Resources, Mr Yinusa Yahaya, appreciated the Federal Ministry of Environment for the honor of implementing the audit process.
She also appreciated the award of the certification to NNPC, especially at this crucial stage of the Companys transition from a corporation to a limited liability company.
Still in the week under review, the NNPC Ltd. and its partner, Sahara Group, took delivery of two 23,000cubic meters Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) vessels for their joint venture company, WAGL Energy Ltd.
The event which held at the Hyundai MIPO Shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, also witnessed the official naming of the vessels as Mt Sapet and Mt BaruMK.
Speaking at the occasion, the GMD/CEO of NNPC Ltd., Malam Mele Kyari, said the investment in the LPG carriers was part of efforts to deepen domestic gas utilisation in keeping with the Federal Governments aspiration to use gas as the linchpin to drive the nations economic and industrial growth.
He disclosed that an order for three additional new vessels was at an advanced stage, adding that we have a target of delivering 10 vessels over the next 10 years.
On his part, the Executive Director of Sahara Group, Mr Temitope Shonubi said WAGL successfully operated two mid-sized LPG Carriers MT Africa Gas and MT Sahara Gas in the region and had delivered over six million CBM of LPG across West Africa, while keeping to global standards.
With the new vessels, we are set to promote and lead Africas march towards energy transition, he said.
The two new vessels, Mt Sapet and Mt BaruMK, were expected to sail out in June and September 2022 and would increase WAGLs total fleet to four.
All four vessels were built by Hyundai MIPO Dockyard, a foremost global manufacturer of mid-sized carriers.
WAGL Energy Limited is a joint venture company between NNPC and Oceanbed (a Sahara Group Company) which is driving NNPCs five-year billion investment plan announced in 2021 to accelerate the decade of gas and energy transition agenda.
Also, at the event were the Ambassador of Nigeria to South Korea, HE Aliyu Magashi; NNPC Group Executive Director, Gas