NNPC to shut down new venture if it posts negative earnings for three consecutive years

By YANGE IKYAA

The group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari,
has charged board members of NNPC Greenfield Refinery Limited (NGRL), to explore all available options to bring an end to the current challenge of petroleum product importation.

He also said the new venture will be shut down if it fails to make profit but rather posts negative earnings for three consecutive years.

Kyari gave the charge Thursday in
Abuja while inaugurating the board of the newly incorporated subsidiary of NNPC.

NGRL was set up in December 2020, with a mandate to oversee the establishment and operation of new refineries.

The NNPC boss, who is also the chairman of the NGRL board, challenged members of the board to focus on profitability in order to remain afloat and avoid liquidation.

“As a business, this is a big opportunity for us and this company’s balance sheet must change positively. Going forward, with the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), I can tell you that if you continue to post negative for three years, you are out. So, there is really no excuse”, Kyari warned.

He urged the board and management team of the new company to set up a proper structure with requisite skills, technology and financing to drive the company’s operations. Kyari further added that he was optimistic that the company would be able to achieve its mandate.

“Our company must grow and we can’t do well, except we are able to process our production, whether it is liquid or gas. If we don’t monetize it, then we have done nothing. This is really a new chapter and we are committed to making it work,” he said.

NNPC’s initiatives in the areas of new refineries, condensate refineries and equity acquisition in credible private refineries, Kyari said, are geared towards ensuring energy security for the country.

In his remarks, the Alternate board chairman and group executive director, Refinery and Petrochemicals, Engr. Mustapha Yakubu, declared that the operations of the company would be guided by the principles of cost effectiveness in line with the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), noting further that profitability would be the key focus.

Other members of the board include the group executive director, Finance and Accounts, Umar Ajiya; managing director, Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), Engr. Oluwaseyi Omotowa; managing director of NNPC Retail, Mrs. Elizabeth Aliyuda; managing director, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Mr. Muhammad Ali-Zarah; and Tolulope Olubommo, who is the company secretary and legal adviser.

The group general manager, Greenfield Refineries and Project Division (GRPD) and managing director, NGRL, Engr. Bege Talson, disclosed that the division was working with third party investors to establish greenfield, modular and condensate refineries with a combined capacity of 250,000 barrels per stream per day (bpsd). He pledged his team’s commitment to run the company profitably.