The best thing to have ever happened to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian oil industry was the appointment of Mr. Mele Kyari as the company’s Group Managing Director on July 7, 2019.
Monumental strides of Kyari informed his reappointment as the chief executive officer of the new Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) after the Petroleum Industry Bill was passed into law by the National Assembly and assented to by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2021.
Kyari inherited a demoralised NNPC where corruption was the order of the day. The geologist quickly turned around the misfortune of the defunct NNPC, in which mindless oil pipelines vandalism and oil theft were done in full scale with reckless abandon. These unpatriotic activities of criminals negatively affected the daily crude oil production quota of Nigeria, with attendant negative effects on the nation’s oil dependent economy.
Kyari promptly unveiled his TAPE (Transparency, Accountability, Performance and Excellence) agenda for NNPC. He also launched the “Crude Theft Monitoring Application. The portal has application options for reporting incidences, with prompt follow-up and responses, and another one for crude sales document validation.
In his quest to curtail oil theft and vandalisation of pipelines in Nigeria, Kyari in March 2022
accompanied the then minister of state for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, on assessment tour of the creeks in the Niger Delta to determine the extent of the criminal activities. Other top state actors that joined the tour included
the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe; the then Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, and security operatives.
The tour led to the discovery of a four-kilometer illegal oil connection line from Forcados Terminal into the sea which had been in operation for nine years. To a large extent, today, the efforts of Kyari to curtail oil theft and pipelines vandalism has yielded significant result as Nigeria’s daily oil output has since increased to 1.6 million barrels per day. This has also shot Nigeria to the number one spot as the largest crude oil producer in Africa, ahead of Algeria and Angola.
Another remarkable achievement of Mele Kyari is the completed rehabilitation and remodeling of Port Harcourt refinery as well as the ongoing repair of Kaduna and Warri refineries. This is undoubtedly a watershed accomplish after these refineries have remained moribund for more than a decade.
Another landmark achievement of Kyari as the CEO of NNPCL was his ingenious ability to make the company post its second consecutive year of ‘profit in 2022. NNPCL announced
N674.1 billion in the 2021 financial period having grown its profit from N287 billion in 2020.
In addition to posting significant profit for the NNPCL, Kyari resolved age long disputes with the company’s trading partners, notably, the International Oil Companies (IOCs) This effort significantly increased the production of crude oil by Nigeria and unlocked investments in the Deepwater space, following the operation of the Petroleum Industry Act.
Similarly, NNPCL, under Kyari, has since paid the $5.1 Joint Venture Cash Call that Nigeria owed the IOCs. He achieved this feat with his introduction of the Alternative Funding Approach (AFA), which replaced the cash-call payment model. This model has since reduced the reliance of Nigeria on external borrowing and increasing the flow of investment into the industry. Many oil-producing African countries had since adopted this model.
In addition, NNPCL under Kyari, has since signed different Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with some African countries. They include the national oil companies of Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, and Sierra Leone towards accomplishment of the planned Nigeria-Morocco Gas pipeline project.
The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) is an initiative of the federal government of Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco. It is 5,600 kilometers gas pipeline project that will traverse 13 African countries, namely, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Gambia, Senegal and Mauritania to Morocco. This project, on completion, will supply about 3 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day (3bscf/d) from Nigeria to Morocco and subsequently to Europe.
Kyari inspired NNPCL in 2022 to acquire OVH Energy Marketing (OVHEM), owner and operator of the defunct Oando downstream assets. As a result of this acquisition, NNPCL Retail Limited has since been building on the existing success of OVH and thereby operating model service outlets. All the former Oando outlets have since become NNPCL branded and now leveraging on the extensive asset base and commercial capabilities of the acquired OVH.
Kyari in November 2022 flagged off the Kolmani Integrated Development Project in Bauchi state. The project marked the commencement of effort to commercially exploit oil in the Northern region of Nigeria.The Kolmani Oil Field, estimated to have a reserve of one billion barrels of crude oil, OPL 809 and 810, lies in the Gongola Basin of the Upper Benue trough, straddling Bauchi and Gombe states. The oil blocks are owned by NNPCL as a concessionaire with New Nigeria Development Company Ltd, Africa Oilfield Movers Ltd, and SEEPCO as partners.
Above all, Kyari has since sanitised, reorganised and repositioned NNPCL for enhanced transparency and efficiency. He has since rolled out lasting legacy programmes and policies in NNPCL and its subsidiaries.
In view of the sterling accomplishments of Mele Kyari as the CEO of NNPCL, he is truly deserving of the 2023 Triangle Face of Africa Chief Executive Officer of the year.
Femi Salako,
Publisher, Triangle News Media, [email protected]
