Yemisi Izuora
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has said that the nation’s daily oil production has been sustained at above 2 million barrels a day in 2018, despite community and other industry challenges.
The Corporation also vowed to remain globally competitive to ensure value addition to the nation’s hydrocarbon resources for the benefit of Nigerians and other stakeholders.
NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed this Thursday in Abuja while addressing the corporation’s staff via a mail broadcast to commemorate his two-year anniversary at the helm of affairs of the NNPC.
Dr. Baru, who described his two years in the saddle as “exciting”, said ever since he was appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari, he had enjoyed a great level of support from all staff in moving the corporation forward.
“Going forward, our priority will be to remain globally competitive. In pursuing this, we will ensure the gradual transition of NNPC from an integrated oil and gas company to an energy company. We will also review our business models to reflect current operations reality with improved profitability, transparency and accountability as the cornerstone,” Dr. Baru told staff in the nine-page address.
Dr. Baru said his administration would ensure improved collaboration with local communities, states, local governments and relevant agencies, improved security and safety of personnel and infrastructure, improved human capital development as well as optimized NNPC’s non-core oil businesses.
The GMD said the 12 Business Focus Areas (12 BUFAs) was designed to succeed, having emplaced aggressive business improvement policies to ensure NNPC’s performance threshold across the oil and gas value chain.
He said NNPC under his watch had initiated and successfully completed milestone deliverables in the Upstream, Midstream, including the refineries and in the Downstream, leading to improved performance and business stability across the corporation’s major operations and entire value chain activities.
He said aside securing approval and signing off the novel financing structure with Schlumberger for the NNPC/First E&P JV which is expected to deliver a peak production of 50kbopd and 120MMscfd by 2019, the corporation had maintained commitment to repayment of cash calls arrears where about $1bn dollars of $5bn indebtedness has been settled.
In the midstream sub-sector, Dr. Baru observed that NNPC had remained a critical gas supplier to the domestic market with a dominant market share and supporting Government’s gas-to-power initiative, currently supplying an average of 720MMscf/day which represents about 47 per cent of total gas supply to the domestic gas market.
He said under his watch, the nation celebrated a record highest peak power generation of 5222MW on 18th December 2017 with 76 per cent of the generated power from thermal power plants. Gas supply to industries has also increased with an average daily supply of about 450mmscfd, Dr Baru noted.
“In addition, we kicked off the 614km Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) pipeline project, after obtaining FEC approval for the EPC of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline on 13th December 2017. The pipeline on completion is expected to deliver gas to the ongoing Abuja, Kaduna and Kano Power Plants with the potential to generate additional 3600MW to the national grid.
Dr. Baru said NNPC and ONHYM jointly engaged two consultants, Penspen and ILF, to carry out the Feasibility Studies and Project Management Consultancy services respectively, revealing that the Feasibility Studies have been concluded as planned, while plans are afoot to jointly commence FEED before the end of the year.
In the downstream, Baru said milestone had also been achieved in rehabilitating and putting back on stream key downstream infrastructure that are critical to sustaining smooth and cost effective distribution of petroleum products across the country.
Despite challenges of vandalism, sabotage and aging infrastructure, Dr. Baru noted, NNPC had achieved milestones in revamping the corporation’s critical oil & gas infrastructure.
“Products supply availability was sustained across the country through a combination of Direct Supply Direct Purchase (DSDP) initiative and Forex (FX) provision to pre-qualified third-party importers,” he stressed.
On the refineries, Dr. Baru said despite the numerous challenges, the refineries have remained operational and strategic in their contribution to petroleum products availability to support domestic supply across the nation.
The GMD stated that other key achievements of his leadership so far were institutionalizing increased transparency in the bidding process for crude oil term contracts as well as marine contracts and attracting investors into critical areas of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry, including the rebranding of about 10 subsidiaries of the corporation towards more profitability.
Dr. Baru charged the staff of the corporation not to rest on their oars, saying they should work towards making NNPC a great organisation that will be the pride of its founding fathers.
It would be recalled that Baru was appointed the 17th GMD of NNPC by President Muhammadu on the 4th July 2016.