We Are Positioning NNPC To Take Advantage Of Energy Transitioning Opportunities—Kyari

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroluem Company Ltd, Mele Kyari has said that the transformation currently being implemented at the NNPC will position it to take advantage of the energy transitioning opportunities in the global environment.

The NNPC GMD said this at the first National Extractives Dialogue in Abuja, co-hosted by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and Spaces for Change (S4C), an indigenous civil society organisation, with support from the Ford Foundation.

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President Muhammadu Buhari will on July 18 this year officially unveil the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, effectively signaling the transitioning of the Company in line with the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act.

The NNPC’s transformation into a CAMA company follows the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act.

The Corporate Affairs Commission had on September 21 last year completed the incorporation of the NNPC Ltd in accordance with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021.

The PIA was signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari on 16th August, 2021, following its passage by the National Assembly in July of the same year.

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With the registration by the CAC, the NNPC Ltd was floated with an initial capital of N200bn making history as the company with the highest share capital in the country.

Between when the PIA was signed into law in August last year and now, the management of the NNPC has taken proactive steps to prepare it for the July 1 take-off as a CAMA company.

Nigeria is pursuing energy transition in order to promote economic growth and is gradually investing in gas so as to reduce carbon emissions whilst continuing to exploit hydrocarbon resources.

Currently, natural gas is the energy transition fuel for Nigeria and the government is seeking investments to be able to deliver this energy in the most sustainable.

Africa has natural gas reserves of over 620 trillion cubic feet as of 2021, as most countries including Nigeria have chosen gas as a transition fuel.

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Nigeria has the largest natural gas deposit in the continent with over 200 trillion cubic feet.

Kyari, who was represented by the Group General Manager, Governance, Risk & Compliance, Mr. Chris Akamiro, noted that the aftermath of COP26 in Glasgow had shown that the world is committed to energy transition.

He said, “I would like to assure you that as NNPC transitions to a CAMA company, we are restructuring our businesses to take advantage of the opportunities that energy transition will bring forth,” Kyari stated.

“As the company commences the implementation of its revised strategy, the NNPC GMD stressed that the company will use its large gas resource as transition fuel to aid the process.

“We are committing our resources for the next decade, which is tagged the decade of gas to explore and produce more gas relative to oil, to power Nigeria and the international community as we transit away from hydrocarbons.”

Kyari said that the NNPC is being run under his leadership in an open and transparent manner and is now more responsive to audit requests and implementation of audit recommendations.

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He added that NNPC in 2020 began releasing the financial statements of the group and its subsidiaries, assuring that the 2021 financial statement of the company and its subsidiaries will soon be published.

“As part of our transparency journey, we have understood that disclosing contracts supports open, fact-based dialogue that can help build trust, reduce conflict, and reinforce a company’s social licence to operate.

“We have therefore, since November 2021, been working with NEITI as part of a joint committee with other stakeholders to implement contract transparency in Nigeria,” he stated.

ENDS

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