Mele Kyari: Nigeria needs right policies to unlock its huge economic potential

Mele Kyari, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), says the country needs to formulate the right policies in order to unlock its huge economic potential.

Kyari said this while delivering the keynote address at the 2021 Nigeria Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG 2021) on Tuesday in Abuja.

Speaking on the topic, ‘Vision and Priorities for Nigeria’s Energy Transformation,’ Kyari said the NNPC was working towards bridging the energy gap to multiply wealth for its varied stakeholders.

“We see a nation that must integrate by developing midstream and downstream infrastructure as the intersection and bridge to value. We see a nation in need of right policy framework to attract new investment while encouraging existing players,” a statement issued by Kennie Obateru, NNPC spokesperson, quoted him to have said.

The NNPC GMD reiterated the corporation’s commitment to ensuring effective stewardship of the nation’s hydrocarbon resources to guarantee energy security and drive wealth creation in Nigeria.

He said that the corporation has completed the Escravos Lagos Pipeline System (ELPS) Phase II project, thereby expanding the gas supply channel for domestic gas utilisation, adding that it has also kick-started the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline project, while the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben gas pipeline (OB3) project was billed for completion soon.

Kyari maintained that the corporation’s vision was to emplace the critical backbone infrastructure, create liquidity and provide the necessary linkage to markets.

He noted that NNPC and its partners were harnessing and exploiting the nation’s huge gas potentials, one of which was the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Train 7 project which the president performed the ground-breaking ceremony recently.

According to him, the NLNG Train 7 is a flagship project expected to increase the nation’s LNG production capacity by 35% and seal Nigeria’s position as one of the top LNG nations in the world, adding that Nigeria was in the process of also transforming into an LNG-consuming country while at the same time deepening domestic utilization of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

On the refineries, he said the programme for the rehabilitation and upgrading of the existing refineries was on course, adding that while work had already started on the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC), work would soon start on the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC) and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (KRPC).

“The NNPC plans to take 20 per cent equity in the Dangote Refinery and acquire stakes in other private modular and condensate refineries in the country. Our priority is to meet our local fuel demand because that is the right way to go thereby making Nigeria to become the hub of petroleum products supply to other African countries in the years ahead,” Kyari said.

He said NNPC, as a national oil company (NOC), has made strategic decisions that would enable Nigeria to be energy sufficient through its partnerships and several business portfolios that would add value to the nation.

The NNPC helmsman said the recent passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the national assembly was a clear example of how collaboration across political lines can deliver reforms.

He further assured that the corporation would sustain engagement with partners to co-create solutions for unique challenges and provide the platform for effective policy engagement.