The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has assured the Senate that there won’t be fuel queues in the next three months across the country.
Kyari, who spoke during a courtesy visit to the leadership of the Senate on Wednesday, said that the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) has ensured that “energy supply is stable and creating cheaper energy” for Nigerians.
He said: “The company has robust supply plants from now until next year; we have always planned for three months. And I guarantee you, Your Excellency, that we will not see any shortage in our country.
Kyari also revealed that the oil giant occupies over 30 per cent of the downstream sector in the oil and gas business, adding that the NNPCL will “optimally provide” petroleum to consumers.
While linking the challenges in the sector to oil theft and pipeline vandalisation, he said that the country has recovered up to N1.7 million barrels of crude oil following increased monitoring and supervision of the facilities by independent pipeline security companies and the military.
“In the last five to six months, government’s security agencies and private security companies have done things differently, and it has yielded results,” he said.
Kyari further assured that the NNPCL would restart the Port Harcourt refinery in December, followed by the Warri refinery in the first quarter of 2024. He added that these would be complemented by small-scale refineries
He further maintained that NNPCL may post a profit in excess of N2 trillion in 2023, adding that by next year, Nigeria will be a net exporter of petroleum products.
On his part, Senate President Godswill Akpabio tasked the management of NNPCL with seeking ways of deepening the consumption of locally produced petroleum products.
He also called for the establishment of modular refineries as well as the renovation of existing ones “to create a multiplier effect, which will include the creation of jobs for our teeming youths and more security for the country.”
