How Sahara Reporters Keeps Getting It Wrong On NNPC’s Operations

There is either a seeming lack of understanding or sheer mischief by a section of the media on the operations of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd, over the past few days.

Oil and gas entities across the globe operate with partnerships, subsidiaries and Joint Ventures. Saudi ARAMCO for instance has over eight subsidiaries; Aramco Americas, Aramco Shared Benefits Company (ASBCO), Saudi Petroleum International, Inc. (SPII), Saudi Refining, Inc. (SRI), Aramco Training Services Company (ATSC) and Motiva Enterprises LLC which owns and operates North America’s largest refinery in Port Arthur, Texas with a crude capacity of more than 600,000 barrels a day.

The company also operates the country’s largest base oil plant and a network of 25 distribution terminals that support delivery of gasoline and diesel to more than 5,200 retail outlets under the Shell and 76 brands.

Just like Saudi Aramco, the NNPC Ltd has eight functional joint ventures and partnerships with Sahara Group that predates Mele Kyari as GMD of the defunct NNPC and now NNPC Ltd.

Owing to the sensitive nature of the NNPC Ltd operations and as a global brand, there are situations of urgency and security warranting the company to maintain aircraft charter service of which an affiliate of Sahara Group operates.

The charter service has never being shrouded in secrecy, therefore for a discredited news outlet to suggest anything to the contrary fits into the hire-for-writing history of such an outlet.

As far back as 2011, and for strategic operations reasons, the NNPC reduced its stake in the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project to 30 percent, from 49 percent, to secure much-needed investment.

At that time, the NNPC offered 4 percent of its stake to LNG Japan, which is jointly owned by trading firms Sumitomo and Sojitz; 3 percent to Itochu, and a further 2 percent to a joint venture between Sahara Energy and U.S.-based Sempra Energy.

In keeping to the tradition of excellence owing to verifiable deliverables of the partnerships and JVs,the NNPC through one of its JVCs, West Africa Gas Ltd (WAGL), Sahara Energy unveiled two LPG vessels in Ulsan, South Korea in 2017 and have executed other JVs on OML 18, Operator of a PSC block, FTSA partner for OML 11.

Also, both companies own some assets as Production Sharing Contract specifically on OML 284, 286, and 18, 148 as well as 228.

A tainted story cannot undermine the fact that Sahara Energy is in over 27 countries, with 16 in Africa, and has an integrated value chain where they have crude assets, refineries and storage and distribution expertise.

With roots in the African continent, Sahara Energy has been committed in making a difference globally across the energy value chain.

The company has a stamp of distinction as a trail blazer and defying the impossible to emerge as an enterprise that creates value innovatively, responsibly and in a sustainable manner.

In 2022, the NNPC Limited and Sahara Group Joint Venture took delivery of two 23,000 CBM Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) vessels at the Hyundai MIPO Shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea.

The new vessels, MT BARUMK and MT SAPET, increased the NNPC and Sahara Group’s investment to over $300 million, approaching the JV’s $1 billion gas infrastructure commitment by 2026.

The fleet previously comprised MT Sahara Gas and MT Africa Gas and all the four vessels were built by Hyundai MIPO Dockyard, a foremost global manufacturer of mid-sized carriers

The vessels are part of the federal government’s commitment to the domestication of gas in Nigeria through several initiatives and increasing seamless supply under the LPG Penetration Framework and LPG Expansion Plan.

Both groups have further through the West Africa Gas Limited (WAGL) reiterated their commitment to develop and construct jetties across West African countries to boost Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply and penetration as part of several efforts to take advantage of opportunities in the energy transition space.

The partnership has seen immense transformation of Africa’s largest thermal plant, Egbin Power Plc and has as one of its entities the Ikeja Electric (one of the largest private distribution companies in sub-Saharan Africa) and First Independent Power Limited (FIPL).

It is apparent that the media can do better by fact-checking and not yield to some amorphous “source” just to gain traction with fake news.

To also allege that the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, Mele Kyari and the Chief Finance Officer jetted off to Saudi Arabia to lobby President Muhammadu Buhari amid the $2.4bn crude oil probe by the House of Representatives, N20bn shows the level as which Sahara Reporters have taken their desperation to.

The duo, like other Nigerians, are in Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser hajj (Umrah). This is not the first time they will be performing Umrah.

Kyari has always had unrestricted access to President Buhari as the Minister of Petroleum in Nigeria and as such, the issue of ‘lobbying’ to book an appointment with President Buhari in Saudi Arabia is a figment of the imagination of Sahara Reporters.

It is on record that Kyari is well-known for transparency and accountability and he goes to the Presidential villa frequently to brief the President who is the Minister of Petroleum Resources on developments in the oil and gas sector.

He introduced the Transparency, Accountability, and Performance Excellence (TAPE) agenda, a five-step strategic roadmap for the NNPC’s attainment of efficiency and global excellence.

Pursuing TAPE agenda was the only way to turn around the then corporation and make it competitive.

Under the roadmap, the Transparency component of the agenda has been able to maintain positive image, share values of integrity and transparency to all stakeholders, while the Accountability segment of the campaign has ensured compliance with business ethics, policies, regulations and accountability to all stakeholders.

In terms of the two-prong item of Performance Excellence, Kyari has been able to entrench a high level of efficiency anchored on efficient implementation of business processes which would also emplace an appropriate reward system for exceptional performance among the workforce

He was responsible for the Open Government Initiative that ushered in an era of transparency and accountability in the NNPC’s operations.

He has also kept his promise to the NNPC and Nigeria by increasing the nation’s oil reserves to over 40 billion barrels, from 37 billion barrels.

The NNPC Group which became a CAMA Company in 2021 following the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act, grew its profit from N287bn in 2020 to N674bn in 2021 under Kyari’s leadership.

The N674bn profit posted by the NNPC Group in the 2021 financial period represents an increase of N387bn or 134.8 per cent when compared to the N287bn recorded in 2020.

The 2021 financial year made it the fourth consecutive years that the NNPC will be making its Audited Financial Statement public.

This was one of the innovations made by Kyari when he took over the helms of affairs of the National Oil Company.

It takes the strong character and management expertise of a personality like Kyari and Ajiya to be able to oversee the most challenging period in Nigeria’s oil and gas history and turn such challenges into profitability and they as well as the NNPC should be allowed to deliver their mandate as enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.