Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari on Tuesday in Abuja said he declared a state of emergency in the company to end bureaucracy and delay in decision making in crude oil and gas production.
Kyari who said this at the opening ceremony of the 23rd Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG Energy Week) disclosed that the company had recently “declared war” against all factors militating against crude oil production in Nigeria.
He lamented that while NNPCL has all it takes to combat the factors working against oil production in Nigeria, operations are affected by delays to a significant extent. He said his management had now resolved to work with all partners and stakeholders in ensuring that the battle is won.
Formerly a government-owned corporation, NNPC was transformed from a corporation to a limited liability company in July 2022 and became known as NNPC Limited. It is the only entity licensed to operate in the country’s crude oil production and partners with foreign oil companies to exploit Nigeria’s fossil fuel resources.
Kyari speaking at the NOG Energy. Week on Tuesday
Kyari became Group CEO of the company which has several subsidiaries in 2019, being the longest serving boss of the company in recent time.
Despite becoming a private organisation since 2022, the company has shown no positive changes in its operations and the country’s petroleum supply problems worsened.
Kyari’s revelation on Tuesday indicated that it has taken the NNPCL boss five years to deal decisively with the problems in the company, that is if there would be any good change going forward.
According to Kyari, a detailed analysis of assets revealed that Nigeria could conveniently produce two million barrels of crude oil per day without deploying new rigs but identified the major impediment to achieving this as the inability of players to act in a timely manner.
He said: “We have decided to stop the debate. We have declared war on the challenges affecting our crude oil production.
“War means war. We have the right tools. We know what to fight. We know what we have to do at the level of assets. We have engaged our partners. And we will work together to improve the situation.”
He added that the “war” will help NNPCL and its partners to speedily clear all identified obstacles to effective and efficient production, such as delays in procurement processes, which have become a challenge in the industry.
