The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), have expressed readiness to run some of the assets and oil mining leases transferred to them by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, an engineer, said this at the weekend after the board meeting of the NNPC/NPDC in Warri, Delta State.
NNPC’s Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Tumini Green, spoke in a statement yesterday.
She quoted Mr. Yakubu as saying that the corporation with its flagship company, NPDC, is repositioning to ensure that its acquired assets remain productive to boost the revenue inflow to the Nigerian economy.
“With the divestment of Shell, NPDC is the top and only option for indigenous participation that will replace companies, such as SPDC and other companies that want to divest their equities. “Therefore, NPDC has taken over this obligation of value addition as the flagship operator of the upstream business of NNPC. NPDC is the gateway of capacity development and capability development of the upstream activities in Nigeria,” Yakubu said.
He said the activities of the NNPC/NPDC in Warri have made NPDC the highest local producer of gas and this has met Federal Government’s aspiration in power generation, stressing that with the new status, NPDC remains the biggest indigenous gas supplier in Africa.
Yakubu noted that as a socially- responsible corporation, the NNPC/NPDC would step up its activities in the area of providing social amenities, such as classroom blocks, educational scholarship, health facilities, roads and water to communities where its operations are domiciled.
He said by partnering the tiers of government in providing basic amenities to oil bearing communities, a conducive environment that would guarantee smooth operations of the acquired assets would be provided, adding that the NNPC/NPDC would touch the lives of Nigerians in many positive ways.
According to him, the assurances from the Warri communities indicate that the coming of the NPDC to the communities would sustain community development efforts in line with international best practices.
He said through the support and vision of the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, the NNPC/NPDC took over the management of some OMLs in a bid to meet the target of producing 250,000 barrels of crude per day in 2015 by NPDC.
