The Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that the NNPC is to be
unbundled into 30 profit-making companies with separate Managing Directors in
the weeks ahead as part of the ongoing transformation of the national oil
company.
Dr. Kachikwu made this
disclosure at the 25th Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum in Abuja with
the theme: “Technological Advances in Hydrocarbon Exploration and Exploitation:
Solutions to Global Oil Price Stability”.
The Minister stated that
the NNPC has been moved from a loss position of N160 billion to some N3 billion
by January 2016, adding that by year end the Corporation should start making
some profit.
“For the first time, we
are unbundling the subset of the NNPC to 30 independent companies with their
own Managing Directors. Titles like Group Executive Directors are going to
disappear and in their place you are going to have Chief Executive Officers and
they are going to take responsibilities for their titles. At the end of the
day, the CEO of an upstream company must deliver an upstream result,” Dr.
Kachikwu stated.
He also informed that as
part of measures to stabilize crude oil prices, some members of the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) are scheduled to meet with
Russia on 20th March, 2016, in Moscow to fine tune collaborative strategies.
The Minister noted that
the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is focusing on developing the
nation’s gas resources in order to boost revenue as part of the diversification
policy of the Federal Government.
Dr. Kachikwu said the
petroleum sector, under his watch, would rapidly review the contracting cycle
of projects from two years to six months in the upstream, stressing that
efforts are in top gear to review the existing Production Sharing Contracts
which is long overdue.
The Minister applauded
the National Assembly on their efforts on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)
which he said would go a long way to promote efficiency in the governance
structure of the industry.
He noted that for the
Nigerian oil and gas industry to make remarkable progress, there is need for
all the stakeholders in the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors to be on
the same page on cost control, contracting circle, technology and environmental
issues.
He called on stakeholders
to adopt integrated approach towards resolving some of the challenges of the
industry in Nigeria.
In his welcome remarks,
the Chairman of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Engr. George Kalu,
said the Oloibiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum of this year coincides with
60 years of oil exploration and production in Nigeria, adding that the low
price of crude oil affords Nigeria the opportunity to reduce cost through
industry collaboration.
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