The Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Mele Kyari, has assured that with the increasing spate of investment in the oil and gas sector, issues of energy scarcity in the country would be over in the next 10 years.
Kyari, who made the declaration at the 7th edition of the Nigerian International Energy Summit 2024 (NIES 2024), in Abuja, informed stakeholders of the company’s commitment to partnershipto close the energy deficit gap and create prosperity for Nigerians.
The NNPC boss disclosed that the completion of the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben Pipeline was in sight as the tunneling across the River Niger was currently ongoing.
On the divestment of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) from onshore and shallow water assets, he said that its role is that of a facilitator, and not an obstacle.
He explained that by virtue of its statutory mandate as the enabler of national energy security, NNPC Ltd.’s role is to ensure that, at the end of the day, there is optimal and sustainable production from the divested assets to guarantee energy security for the benefit of Nigerians.
Kyari also disclosed the company’s willingness to invest in the proposed African Energy Bank as a way of ensuring sustainable funding for energy projects in Africa to guarantee energy security.
In a separate development, the company’s Executive Vice President, Upstream, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, called for deeper collaboration among upstream operators, especially independent producers, to find solutions to the challenges hindering the effective development of divested assets in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
Eyesan stated that past experiences with divestments and how the assets were operated have left much to be desired as most of them experienced a drop in production rather than growth.
She, however, acknowledged that there were some success stories in the operations of the independent producers. She identified some of the challenges to include insecurity, lack of finance, and lack of technological capacity, stressing that with collaboration among industry players, the challenges could be surmounted.
