NNPCL: SO FAR, SO GOOD -OJULARI & A RENEWED HOPE (2) By Femi Oniyide

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Then, just like the reverberating words of the father of the former President of Ghana, John Mahama, the Kyari team bowed out when the ovation was loudest ! It would have been a career disaster, if the group had been eased out before the completion of two of our three moribund refineries.

Taking up the stage now, for a renewed hope for Nigerians at NNPCL, is anchored by the non executive chairmanship of Engineer Ahmadu Musa Kida who had cut his teeth as a player in the oil and gas industry as a former deputy Managing Director of Deep Water Services at Total Exploration and Production Co. Ltd and the management team that sees to the day to day activities of NNPCL is led by Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari who was the immediate past Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Co. Ltd, the company that acquired Shell Petroleum Development Co. Nig Ltd.

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They were appointed by Mr President by virtue of his powers under Section 59 (2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021.

The Ojulari team has been given a resounding marching order by Mr President, that speaks eloquently to the Renewed Hope Agenda of the present administration.

The team has the mantra of a Renewed Hope for Nigerians laid squarely before them. The new action plan seems herculean but completely achievable if the team goes headlong into it with the uncommon vigour that it deserves.

What really are this Action Plans as marshaled by Mr President for the new team at NNPCL ?

They are first; increasing new investments at NNPCL to $30 Billion Dollars from last years $17 Billion Dollars by 2027 and $60 Billion Dollars by 2030. That’s a massively huge task that demands constant foreign and local investors.

And in order to achieve this, the NNPCL must as of urgent necessity increase their accountability and transparency to the highest standards as obtained in other international oil companies.

It must completely move away from the murky waters of incessant government intervention.

It must constantly open its account books for public scrutiny.

It must walk away from operating an opaque account devoid of painstaking scrutiny. In fact, it must move to get itself on international monetary ratings.

Those are some of the ways to attract unhindered international flow of sumptuous investment portfolios.

The second marching order by Mr President is the raising of Nigeria’s oil production to two million barrels per day (bpd) in 2027 and 3 million bpd in 2030.

That’s so high a scale to jump but it’s achievable. In fact, it’s achievability is first grounded in government’s maintenance of peace and security, not only in the Niger Delta region but throughout the length and breadth of Nigeria. If we want the resources, we must walk the talk.

I don’t know if there’s a conflict resolution division in NNPCL and I will advise that if there’s none, we better start one immediately in order to align with achieving this positive stake of two million barrels a day by 2027 that can bring the Country back to the path of prosperity like we had under era of General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) in the early 70s.

This Action Plan is well thought out and it is achievable.

The third Action Plan as spelt out by Mr President is that Gas Production should be jacked up from its present, roughly 2 Billion Cubic Feet daily to 8 Billion Cubic Feet daily by 2027 and 10 Billion Cubic Feet daily by 2030. The consensus out there among experts in the oil and gas industry is that Nigeria has not really even scratched the surface in its production of gas.

In fact, our gas resources and reserve is grossly under utilised.

The marching order by Mr President on our gas resources is also eminently achievable for the Bayo Ojulari team. He’s a seasoned guy in the oil and gas industry and his recent achievement in the acquisition of SPDC is a testimony that speaks for itself.

Our gas resources must be aggressively tapped into in order to benefit the Nigerian people. Concessions need be granted in order for companies to explore and gather our gas both for export and domestic use.

The aggressiveness that this demands may bother on positive madness. The sort that takes a Nation from the underneath of poverty production to the nadir zenith of utmost dizzying success.

We should be a Country in a hurry with the level of our infrastructure decay and our high indices poverty level which our major means of rapidly working towards success are to a large extent the New Action Plan as laid out for the new team taking over the running of the NNPCL.

It’s a task that’s gargantuan but its a patriotic task that’s effectively achievable.

Lastly, the President’s New Action Plan to the team taking over is that NNPCL’s share of crude oil refining output should be raised to 200,000 barrels per day by 2027 and 500,000 barrels per day by 2030.

This also is necessary with the oil refining capacity that Nigeria is fast acquiring. There’s the Dangote Refinery of 650,000 barrels per day capacity and other private oil refineries springing up. Even some people are giving a thumbs up for the establishment of modular refineries.

In fact, Nigeria may be approaching the stage where virtually all its crude oil production per day will be completely utilised by local refineries.

The New Action Plan is no doubt massive and it may seem it’s achievability is fearful, but it is effectively achievable. It only needs the guys with the guts and it seems we have the guys with the guts in Engineers Ahmadu Musa Kida and Bashir Bayo Ojulari.

The New Action Plan seems to resemble the mantra cry of President Trump to the United States oil and gas industry shouting Drill baby drill !!!

Femi Oniyide Esq