The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dr. Maikanti Baru

  • Indonesia to build 10,000bpd refinery in Nigeria

    Indonesia to build 10,000bpd refinery in Nigeria

    The Federal Government’s plan to attract investment in modular refineries as part of efforts to boost local refining capacity has started gaining momentum with an Indonesian firm, PT Intim Perkasa Nigeria Ltd, a subsidiary of PT Intim Perkasa, Indonesia, indicating interest to build a 10, 000 barrel per stream refinery in Nigeria.

    Mr. Adi Hartadi, the Head of Investor Relations of PTPP (Persero) Tbk, partners to PT Intim Perkasa Nigeria Ltd, who disclosed this in Abuja during a business meeting with the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, stated that the proposed refinery would be located in Akwa Ibom State.

    According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, that disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, the refinery, a modular one, will have refining capacity for 10,000 barrels per stream day.

    Mr Hartadi stated that their company has more than 50 years of experience in construction and engineering and it was desirous of diversifying into downstream operations in Nigeria.

    Responding, the NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, who was represented by the Chief Operating Officer (COO), Refineries and Petrochemicals, Engr. Anigbor Kragha, stated that NNPC placed a high premium on investment in the nation’s refining sector.

    The GMD stated that the Corporation had a Greenfield Refinery Department that specialised in new refinery projects and also provided professional support to potential investors in a modular refinery in the country in line with the Federal Government policy on modular refineries.

    He explained that the country’s three refineries with a combined capacity of 445,000bpd could not function optimally over the years due to lack of investment, adding that NNPC would give necessary support to the Indonesian Company interest in the downstream sector.

    “On our end, we have embarked on ambitious plan to fast-track programmes to restore our capacity utilization from 30 percent to a minimum of 90 per cent in the next 24 months. To do that, we are working on securing financing from third parties, not just funding, but also technical expertise to help us increase our performance to world class levels that they should be,” Dr. Baru stated.

    He explained that given Nigeria’s expected population, by 2025, more than 40 million litres of petrol would be required for local consumption, adding that the combined capacity of the nation’s 3 refineries would only be able to satisfy just above 50 per cent of the projected local demand.

    He expressed optimism that with this kind of investment coming steadily, Nigeria could serve as a regional hub of refined petroleum products for West Africa and beyond.

    He called on the investors to be mindful of clean fuel policy across African countries and ensure that they produce fuels that meet specification with regards to sulphur content.

    Earlier, Dr. Dwiyatna Widinugraha, Third Secretary for Economic Affairs, Indonesian Embassy in Nigeria and the leader of the Indonesian delegation, stated that the visit was a follow-up to the earlier visit by the Indonesian envoy to NNPC, the bilateral meeting between the Indonesian Trade Minister with his Nigerian counterpart as well as the visit of Indonesian Prime Minister to Nigeria.

    It would be recalled that the Indonesian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Harry Purwanto, had recently expressed interest in purchasing more crude oil from Nigeria during a courtesy call to the NNPC GMD, Maikanti Baru.

  • Refining activities hit 10million barrel in Q1

    Refining activities hit 10million barrel in Q1

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), on Tuesday said that following the peace initiative in the Niger Delta, refining activities in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna increased to 10million barrels of crude in the first quarter this year as against 8million and 24million barrels for the entire years of 2015 and 2016 respectively.

    Its Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed this in Abuja during an interactive session with a delegation from the United Kingdom Royal College of Defence Studies.  

    Baru, who was represented at the event by the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Engr. Saidu Mohammed stated that apart from the upbeat in the refineries activities attributable to the peace initiative which has lowered the rate of attacks on oil installations, the corporation has recorded increase in crude oil production to 2million barrels per day in recent times.

    The NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu who made this known in a statement, quoted him as saying: “As a nation, we have tried all available options, including military, to tackle the security challenge. We have discovered that guns are not as effective as the engagement option. The peace we are enjoying now is as a result of the engagement with stakeholders in the region led by the Acting President. We intend to build on that to achieve a lasting peace.”

    Dr. Maikanti Baru said having been satisfied with the prevailing respite in the Niger Delta which has engendered a conducive environment for oil and gas production operations in the past few months, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would do all it could to build on the gains of the Federal Government engagement with stakeholders in the region to deepen and sustain the peace.

    Speaking earlier, the team lead of the UK Royal College of Defence Studies delegation, Major General Craig Lawrence, said the group was in NNPC to learn how the corporation was generating wealth and prosperity for the country in the face of daunting challenges.

    He thanked the management of NNPC for sparing the time to explain to the delegation the workings of the corporation.

    Members of the delegation included United Kingdom, France, Pakistan, and Thailand nationals, among others.

  • NNPC to resume oil prospecting in Lake Chad

    NNPC to resume oil prospecting in Lake Chad

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it will resume oil prospecting in the Lake Chad Basin of Borno.

    The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, disclosed this when he visited Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, at the Government House in Maiduguri on Monday.

    Baru was represented at the occasion by the NNPC Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Saidu Mohammed.

    He said the corporation had concluded arrangement to mobilise heavy and sophisticated equipment to resume oil prospecting in the Lake Chad Basin.

    He said the resumption, which would be done in the next six or eight weeks, was based on the military’s assurance to provide adequate security in the area.

    Baru said the move was due to the present relative peace in the state and the degrading of Boko Haram insurgents in the North East region.

    The NNPC GMD said, “We are here in Borno to express our full alignment to the ongoing reconstruction, rehabilitation and resettlement in all the liberated communities.

    “Therefore, NNPC is seeking where it can come in and assist because the rate of devastation is worrisome.

    “We are also in the state to inform you that in the next six weeks, we are going to redeploy our team of experts back to Maiduguri to resume oil exploration with better technology in the Lake Chad Basin.

    “This is necessary with our renewed efforts in harnessing oil and gas and power to increase the economy of the nation in line with the agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari on job creation and economic diversification.”

    Shettima commended the team for the visit and the NNPC’s resolve to resume oil exploration in the region.

    The governor said his administration would partner with corporation to actualise the mission.

     

    NAN

     

  • NNPC boss, executives sign performance bond

    NNPC boss, executives sign performance bond

    The journey to the transformation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) into a commercially focused and profitable business organization has been taken a notch higher with the signing of a performance bond by the Chief Operating Officers (COO) of the five Autonomous Business Units and two Directorates with the Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru.

    The performance bond, tagged: “Corporate Scorecard Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)”, constitutes the key deliverables for the Upstream, Downstream, Refineries, Gas & Power, and Ventures Autonomous Business Units and the Finance & Accounts and Corporate Services Directorates for 2017, serving as key business objectives that each of the units would pursue and is expected to achieve.

    It’s statement that made the announcement said that the signing of the performance bond took place at the end of a two-day Top Management Retreat and Performance Dialogue which ended yesterday  in Abuja.

    Speaking on the significance of the Corporate Scorecard Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Dr Baru said it was the corporation’s way of setting up a system for measuring performance with a view to driving every unit and every staff of the corporation towards achieving strategic business goals.

    According to the GMD, they form the benchmark against which the performance of each of the Autonomous Business Units will be evaluated at the end of the year.

    “These Key Performance Indicators will be the basis for evaluating each ABU’s performance. These KPIs are expected to be cascaded down to the individual business units by the COOs and down to individual staff by the respective Managing Directors and Executive Directors of the Strategic Business Units (SBUs). At the end of the day, we are going to add up the various inputs from individual staff, up to the SBU, to arrive at the performance of each ABU by the end of the year”, Dr Baru explained.

    He said subsequently, the extent of the achievement of the KPIs by each of the Autonomous Business Units would be used to determine how much of the 13th month bonus the staff of each ABU will enjoy at the end of the year.

    On the objective of the retreat, the GMD said it was organized to review the report of the committees set up to align the implementation of the 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFA) with the 20-Fixes and to review recent management policies as well as the performance of the corporation in the first quarter of 2017.

    He charged members of the Top Management to brace up for challenges ahead with a view to rising above them to position the corporation for profit. 

  • NNPC to intensify anti-corruption drive, says Baru

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has pledged to strengthen the anti-graft war across its value chain to ensure efficiency and optimisation of resources.

    The NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Baru, said this on Thursday in Abuja in a statement signed by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Department.

    Baru was speaking when he received a delegation of Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria ( ACAN ) in his office.

    According to Baru, the NNPC, as an entity that supports anti-corruption, has appropriate sanctions against staff found to have flouted established process and procedures.

    He said the Corporation would work with the management of ACAN, the research and training department of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Tribunal, ICPC, to sustain its age-long tradition.

    ”We have retired some members of staff and meted out penalties on others who flouted our process.

    ”NNPC was the first agency of government to form an in-house anti-corruption committee soon after the proclamation of the ICPC Act.

    ”This action shows our commitment to transparency and openness in all we do; it also shows our zeal to ensure that our staff imbibe the culture of fighting corruption,” the NNPC boss said.‎

    He said that the Corporation’s anti-corruption posture had been accentuated with the monthly publication of NNPC financial and operational report in national newspapers, on the NNPC website and other online news portals.

    Baru said that the Corporation was prompt in its remittance of oil and gas revenues into the Federation Account.

    He also said that the corporation had embraced the practice of conducting open public bid exercises in sourcing service providers and suppliers for operational requirements.

    ”These open bid exercises are usually covered live by major television networks in the full glare of representatives of the bidding companies.

    “Officials of the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Civil Society Organisations and independent assessors are always present at such bids.

    ”The NNPC is undergoing reforms anchored on full activation of the 12 Business Focus Areas, BUFA, with the cardinal philosophy of engendering an efficient first class oil and gas entity with clear-eyed gaze at transparency and accountability,” he said.

    In his remark, Prof. Sola Akinrinade, Provost of the Academy, said ACAN was ready to help the Corporation to boost its anti-corruption quotient with apt capacity building sessions for staff and management

  • NNPC committed to reviving nation’s economy – GMD

    NNPC committed to reviving nation’s economy – GMD

    The Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, says the corporation is committed to reviving the nation’s economy.

    Baru gave the commitment when the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mr Bayo Onanuga, visited him at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Thursday.

    He said that collaboration between NAN and NNPC could stimulate the economy with the former’s substantial reach and mobility across the 36 states of the federation and beyond.

    “We in the NNPC are committed to seeing that the economy comes back fully and that jobs are created.

    “We are committed to seeing that the economy comes out of recession and you are definitely a partner in this mission that we set out to do for the nation,’’ he said.

    According to Baru, through the daily reportage of the NNPC, NAN remains a leading voice in the fight against unwholesome activities, crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism and sabotage of oil and gas installations.

    He pledged to support the resuscitation of the Niger Delta bureau of the agency saying “we will support the bureau to see it comes back active and see to the purpose it was set up for.

    “NNPC will use the bureau in grassroots news and information gathering, especially in the area of pipeline vandalism and with the difficulties we have with the transporters moving petroleum products.

    “The pipelines have to be back, have to be running so that should the transporters, for any reason, not able to move these products, we can at least move them to various points across the country’’.

    Baru said since taking over the mantle of leadership of the corporation, he had operated a FACTI-based approach to solving issues, explaining that FACTI meant Focused, Accountable, Competitive and Transparent Organization conducting business with Integrity.

    He attributed the queue-free yuletide in 2016 to collaborative effort of various distributors and NNPC staff members, who put in long office hours and sleepless nights.

    Earlier, Onanuga had commended Baru saying “I am impressed with what the GMD has done in his short time in office.

    “For instance, for the first time in the history of our country, we had a December free of fuel shortage.

    “In the media, we played with it; we had two photos, one of December, 2015 with people agonizingly queuing for petrol, and another of December, 2016, with no queue.

    “In fact, there were just one or two cars in the stations. That is a very commendable achievement; I don’t know how you achieved it.

    “If you used a magic wand, I hope that magic wand can be applied year-in-year-out so our country can be saved of petrol agony as we have had in the past,’’ he said.

    Onanuga intimated Baru of NAN’s efficient services, including the SMS and PR-Wire platforms, adding that his aim was that the agency fitted into the mould of other news agencies across the world.

    “NAN and NNPC should work together for the benefit of the country. As an agency, there’s so much we can offer to our sister agency.

    “We are also going to set up an energy desk.

    “The energy industry is one of the most important in our country and as a news agency we must pay attention to energy news and not to get such news breaking on foreign media outlets like Reuters or AFP.

    “We are not happy about that. We are going to work together on this and we hope we can change this in due course,’’ Onanuga said.

     

  • NNPC proposes revisions in PIB

    NNPC proposes revisions in PIB

    …Wants publications of payments to government

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Wednesday outlined a detailed proposal to help the National Assembly fine-tune its deliberation on the draft Petroleum Industry Governance and Institutional Framework law (PIGIF) which is currently before it for legislative action.

    In a presentation at the Public hearing organized by the Joint Senate Committee on the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, said that though the Corporation is in support of the decision to present the Governance and Institutional Framework as a separate legislation from the Fiscal and Commercial Framework, the prevailing international and domestic business environment makes it imperative to undertake certain revisions to the 2015 Bill as proposed to align it with best international practices.

    The NNPC GMD noted that to enhance transparency in the proposed Nigeria Petroleum Company, NPC, which is being mulled as the successor company of the NNPC, it should be mandated to publish annually a detailed report on all petroleum revenue payments made to government.

    A statement of the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu quoted Baru as saying that : ‘’This should include all royalties, rentals, fees, Petroleum Profit tax, corporate income tax, other taxes, bonuses, profit oil/gas shares from each of the licenses, leases and contracts.”

    Other proposed changes listed by the Corporation include: More emphasis on a low cost, transparent and efficient administration, creating lower overhead costs for petroleum companies, institutional linkages with government decisions related to renewable resources, power generation, climate change policies and other policies affecting the petroleum industry through the roles of the Minister and the proposed National Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NPRC.

    The NNPC is also seeking: a better definition of the roles of the Minister of Environment in relation to the Minister of Petroleum and the NPRC, increased institutional attention to the development and distribution of natural gas, clarity in Joint Venture, JV  and Production Sharing Contract, PSC ownership of  assets including the handling and sale and disposal of available production.

    The NNPC wants the new law to ensure proper delineation of the responsibilities of the proposed new entities including the enactment of transition provisions for effective management of assets, re-enforcement of exploration and production from the frontier basins; much more emphasis on measures that reduce corruption and increased transparency among other items.

    The NNPC however supports the creation of three entities as enshrined in the draft PIGIFB 2015 Bill.

    These entities are: the Nigerian Petroleum Regulatory Commission, NRC, as a regulatory entity for the entire petroleum industry(Upstream, midstream and downstream the Nigerian Petroleum Assets Management Company, NPAMC, as counter-part and administrator of production sharing agreements, and such other risk-based agreements as the Government may decide and the Nigerian Petroleum Company, NPC, as a vertically integrated oil and gas company operating as a fully commercial entity across the value chain that includes the current Joint Venture Operations, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, NPDC operations, Frontier Exploration and other upstream/service activities, refinery & Petrochemicals, downstream activities as well as sale and disposal of crude oil and products.

  • NNPC moves to grow oil, gas reserves

    NNPC moves to grow oil, gas reserves

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is set to grow the nation’s oil and gas reserves, the Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, has said.

    He made this assertion in Lagos on yes while delivering a keynote address at the 34th Annual International Conference and Exhibition of the Nigerian association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) with the theme ‘Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry: Tackling Our Realities’.

    The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu disclosed this in a statement Tuesday.

    He noted that NNPC would continue to ring-fence exploration budgets in both Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract arrangements to ensure there was work for all service providers in order to provide the needed impetus to grow the nation’s oil and gas reserves.

    ‘’There is no need re-inventing the wheel. We are now progressing with the use of exploratory techniques that have worked on our neighbour’s side of the Basin to achieve similar results on our side.  This will also provide a vista for NAPE and its professionals to further analyse the concept of oil generation, expulsion and entrapment in rift basins which we now know is different from the Niger Delta Basin that we are used to,’’ the GMD posited.

    ‘’The NNPC will aggressively pursue domestic refining to take advantage of improved refining margin during periods of low oil prices.  To address the current sub-optimal performance of the domestic refineries, a new rehabilitation strategy which includes the rehabilitation of refineries, modification of the refinery business model and governance structures that tie capital investment performance to actual refinery output are being pursued,’’ Dr. Baru disclosed.

    In terms of security challenges, the NNPC helmsman appealed to those behind indiscriminate acts of infrastructure vandalism to put an end to the despicable acts forthwith, stressing that the destruction of critical energy infrastructure is a great threat to the economy, environment and energy security.

    Conferring the highest NAPE Honorary Award on the GMD, the President of the Association, Mr. Nosa Omorodion, described Dr. Baru as a thorough bred professional who has impacted the industry positively assuring of NAPE’s readiness to continue to provide professional support for the Oil and Gas Industry.

  • ‘How NPDC lost $36m’

    ‘How NPDC lost $36m’

    A non-governmental anti-corruption group, Youth Coalition for Change (YCC), has petitioned the Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, over alleged loss of over $36 million (N11.35billion) by the National Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) through faulty procurement process.

    The group claimed it is estimated that the faulty procurement process which led to loss of not less $20,000 a day by the NDPC, would have cost the company a cumulative loss of about $36 million in the past five years.

    Its National Coordinator, Joe Odudu and National Secretary, Innocent Izoma, who signed the petition dated 10 October alleged that the abuse of the procurement process by NPDC officials has been going on since 2008 when the contract for the procurement of security patrol boats to secure oil facilities was signed.

    The petition read:“It is sad to note that one of your subsidiaries, the NPDC with a considerable number of oil assets in its portfolio, has been unable to make its mark in the petroleum sector in spite of its huge assets of several oil blocs, freely ceded to it by the Federal Government.