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Tag: Ndu Ughamadu

  • NNPC recovers N771m forfeited assets from marketers

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC ) has recovered assets worth over N771million from some marketers who had underpaid for petroleum products supplied to them from Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Kaduna Depot.

    The Chairman of NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee, Mr. Mike Balami, said the committee, in collaboration with Federal Government’s Intelligence and Anti-Corruption agencies such as the Department of State Security Services (DSS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, recovered the assets from the defaulting marketers.

    A release by NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja on Tuesday, said NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee brought in forensic experts to uncover the shady deals by some of the marketers affected.

    Balami disclosed that some of the assets recovered include filling stations, water factories and six sports utility vehicles, adding that the forensic investigation would be extended to the other depots across the country to stop the bleeding of the national oil company.

    He noted that it was established that the affected marketers lifted petroleum products from the PPMC Kaduna depot without evidence of payment and when confronted with the evidence they admitted to the offence and failed to pay their liabilities.

    He said that NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, was passionate about stopping all the leakages in the corporation, stressing that the forfeited assets would be handed over to NNPC Corporate Asset Boarding and Disposal Committee (CABDC) for immediate disposal.

    Balami added that investigation into the lifting of petroleum products without evidence of payment was continuing, urging all relevant stakeholders to support the NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee in its onerous task of recovering all its monies outside NNPC’s system.

    He said that this was the first time that the NNPC would be taking over assets forfeited by marketers who defaulted in their terms of engagement.

  • Baru commissions $60m gas plant in Delta

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Group Managing Director Dr. Maikanti Baru on Thursday commissioned a $60m Egbeoma Gas Processing Plant in Ebedei Community, Ukwuani Local Government of Delta State.

    He said the corporation was committed to pursuing the Federal Government’s aspiration of aggressively deploying the nation’s vast gas resources for economic growth.

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

    “NNPC is committed to the Federal Government’s aspirations as expressed in the gas policy, environmental policy and domestic gas utilization policy,” Dr. Baru stated.

    Some of the targets under the various government policies, Dr. Baru observed, include the effective monetization of the nation’s vast gas resources for sustainable economic growth and a complete end to gas flaring.

    In particular, GMD said the corporation was pursuing aggressive growth in domestic gas supply capacity from the current 1.7bscfd to 5bscfd in the medium term, a growth which he explained, would come from the seven (7) critical gas development projects.

    According to him, aside the gas supply growth, the NNPC was equally committed to the expansion of gas pipeline infrastructure network system.

    “This expansion includes the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) gas pipeline which is less than 5km to Egbeoma Gas Plant and can serve as a major evacuation artery of the dry gas produced from the plant to the market,” he added.                                                                                                                                                                          While congratulating PNG Gas Ltd, operators of the Egbeoma Gas Plant, Baru noted that the development fitted squarely into the Federal Government’s gas aspiration of using gas as an enabler for energy independence, industrial development, commerce and environmental and social sustainability.

    Read Also: Baru directs NNPC retail to secure 30% marktet share

    He also described the achievement as a “no mean feat”, adding that the conceptualization and actualization of the gas plant project dream had reinforced NNPC’s confidence in the potentials of Nigerian indigenous companies.

    The GMD urged operators whose assets are close to the plant and the OB3 pipeline to seize the opportunity by collaborating with PNG Gas Limited to supply gas to maximize the plant’s capacity, access and commercialize all existing flares and further develop the significant gas reserves of 1Tcf of gas in the area.

    “I see this initiative as the beginning of an end to the last mile of gas flaring in Nigeria. This plant is a hallmark of Nigerian engineering prowess and local content capacity,” he added.

    Promoter of the Egbeoma Gas Plant project, Engr. Charles Osezua, said the plant represented the success story of Nigerian engineering.

    “Our dream is to help realize the Federal Government’s drive of building a gas hub in this area by processing 150mmscfd of gas which will not only generate power but also support the growth of the nation’s economy,” Osezua stated.

    He said as an industry leader, NNPC had a major role to play in galvanizing and bringing together the nation’s gas producers with a view to creating a gas hub in the country.

    He noted that since inception in 2016, the plant had been running at 97% of installed capacity with a stellar safety record of about 1.5million man hours of operation without loss time injury (LTI).

    The PNG Gas Limited is the owner and operator of Egbeoma Gas Plant which processes 30 million standard cubic feet of wet gas daily.

    The plant is also the only onshore third-party gas extraction and fractionation plant of its kind in Nigeria and a mascot of the new gas revolution.

  • NNPC, police renew synergy on anti-pipeline vandalism

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigeria Police have pledged to work together in a renewed drive to combat the perennial menace of oil theft and pipeline vandalism across the country.

    Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, said this in a statement he issued in Abuja.

    The NNPC spokesman noted that the decision to reinvigorate the push against oil pipeline marauders was reached at the meeting between the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru and the Acting Inspector General of Police, Mr. Abubakar Mohammed Adamu at the NNPC Towers in Abuja.

    The release said the renewed cooperation would consolidate the prevailing cordial relations between both entities in tackling the menace which has manifested in losses of millions of litres of petroleum products.

    Receiving the Police boss at the NNPC Towers, Dr. Baru congratulated the Acting IGP on his appointment, noting that it was gratifying for him to have chosen the NNPC Towers as destination of his first courtesy visit since assumption of office.

    The NNPC GMD assured that the corporation would work assiduously with the new IGP in pursuit of the mutual mandate of ensuring protection of the nation’s vast oil and gas assets across the country.

    Dr. Baru seized the opportunity to commend IGP Adamu for the police’s quick response to the recent case of suspected collusion between some policemen and oil pipeline vandals in the Arepo axis, saying it was indicative of the determined commitment of the Police leadership to squelch the ugly menace.

    Read Also: Nigeria’s refineries not too old – NNPC

    In his response, IGP Adamu said that as the foremost provider of the means of sustenance of the Nigerian economy, it was natural for the police to have keen interest in the security and protection of NNPC’s vital oil pipelines and sundry facilities across Nigeria.

    He pledged the commitment of the police force under his watch to seek fresh areas and strategies to strengthen the existing security cooperation between the NNPC and the Police.

  • NNPC to crash price of cooking gas

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is set to implement effective commercial framework that would halt the export of propane and butane, which are major components in the production of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also known as cooking gas.

    The Corporation on Thursday explained, in a statement by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, that the move to stop the export of propane and butane anchored by the Crude Oil Marketing Division of the Corporation would enable the Corporation boost supply of LPG to the domestic market thereby leading to a natural downward slide in the price of the product.

    The NNPC spokesman quoted the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD) of the Corporation, Mallam Mele Kyari, as saying: “Currently some of our butane and propane entitlements are exported largely due to lack of vessels to make sure that these things come into the domestic markets and the absence of a commercial framework.

    Read Also: NNPC cautions against oil theft

    “What we are going to do is to make sure we put the right commercial framework in place so that those exports are converted into domestic consumption”.

    Kyari, who disclosed this at a strategy session, said the Division was working in concert with stakeholders to create the enabling environment for in-country production of LPG and cessation of export of the country’s equity butane and propane entitlements due to absence of in-country vessels for transport and other considerations.

    He said the goal of the Division in 2019 is to complete the automation process in the marketing and sale of Nigerian crude oil grades which teed-off in 2017, noting that all hands must be on deck to achieve 100 percent, end-to-end conclusion of the process.

     

     

  • Baru directs NNPC retail to secure 30% marktet share

    The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, has charged the Corporation Downstream company, NNPC Retail, to increase its current 14 per cent market share to 30 per cent by 2020.

    Speaking yesterday  in Abuja during the first Triennial Delegates Conference of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), NNPC Retail Branch, Dr. Baru stated that the charge was an assignment that must be accomplished.

    A release by NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, said the NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Baru, disclosed at the event that the NNPC Management would soon expand the operations of NNPC Retail Limited.

    Baru stated that NNPC was determined to ensure that the prevailing availability of petroleum products across the country was sustained as arrangements have reached advanced stage to acquire more landed property in Abuja and across the states to build more NNPC retail outlets.

    Speaking as Chairman of the occasion, Dr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, who is a former Group Managing Director of NNPC, described the National Oil Company as an accountable and transparent going concern, saying nothing should deter it from sustaining its core values.

    The former NNPC GMD stated that the current Management of the corporation deserved commendation for public accountability, pitched against its periodic and prompt reporting of the company’s operations and financial transactions.

    Dr. Gaius-Obaseki, who is also the Chairman of Brass LNG, listed the NNPC core values to include: transparency, integrity and accountability which he explained must be reflected in all the company’s dealings with its stakeholders across the Industry value chain.

    “The current NNPC Top Management led by Dr. Maikanti Baru, must be commended for updating the books of NNPC business units. This is reflective of what used to be. This must be sustained as NNPC business performance should be reported as stipulated in enabling laws”, he said.

    Dr. Gaius-Obaseki stated that the decision to establish the NNPC Retail in 2002 had yielded result with the NNPC Mega stations across the country servicing the petroleum needs of the people, noting that unlike the situation in the past, Nigerians now enjoy fuel availability through the effort of the NNPC Retail Limited.

    He charged the union to be focused in their relationship with management to enable both parties work efficiently for the benefit of Nigerians.

    Read Also: Baru hails oil workers for stopping planned strike

    “Unionism must move away from strikes and protest to developmental focus.  We must move away from being a combative group as a union but be forward looking and join management in the development of business,” he stated.

    In his presentation entitled: “NNPC Retail Limited: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow”, guest speaker, Mr. Adeyemi Adetunji, Managing Director of NNPC Retail Limited, said the company was moving from a cost centre to profit making entity.

    Mr. Adetunji assured the Group Managing Director of NNPC that his company would hit the 30 per cent market share target set by corporation’s helmsman.

    In the same vein, PENGASSAN President, Comrade Francis Johnson assured that union members will be encouraged to assist the NNPC Retail management in achieving its target, pointing out that “the NNPC Retail has continued to serve as a vehicle of intervention in the market during periods of emergency and avoidable supply interruptions”.

    PENGASSAN NNPC Retail branch chairman, Comrade Baba Shetimah Kukawa, thanked NNPC Retail Management for providing the enabling environment for the union to flourish, pledging the continuous support of the group to the Company.

    He appreciated the GMD and other NNPC top management for their support and assured that NNPC Retail under his watch would continue to work hard towards delivering on the mandates.

  • NNPC records N32b trading surplus in 11 months

    The Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company Limited (PPMC), Mr. Umar Ajiya, disclosed that the company has returned to profitability with a trading surplus of N32bn between January and November 2018.

     He made this known while the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), was in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) towers, Abuja for an oversight function.  

    The other downstream subsidiaries that made presentations were NNPC Retail Limited, Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company (NPSC) and NNPC Shipping.

    The PPMC boss also stated that as part of the zero-scarcity strategy, the company has over 170 million liters of PMS in stock at some NNPC Depots across the country following their successful rehabilitation along with connecting pipelines to forestall dependence on private sector depots. 

     NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday. 

    The Nigerian National Assembly, said the spokesman,  commended the corporation on the strategies deployed so far to make petroleum products available to Nigerians throughout the end of year festivities and beyond.

    Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), Hon. Joseph Akinlaja, gave the commendation during an oversight visit .

    The lawmaker expressed confidence that the elaborate measures put in place by the corporation to avert fuel supply shortage would be successful this year going by the painstaking efforts that went into the planning and execution of the zero-fuel scarcity strategy. 

    Read Also: Over 600 firms bid to insure NNPC assets

    “We are impressed by the presentation and we are sure there will be no war room here again because of products scarcity, you have done very well and I’m happy that Nigerians are going to travel effortlessly at this period of the year”, Hon. Akinlaja enthused.

    On the threat by major, independent petroleum products marketers to ground the sector due to unpaid subsidy arrears, the Committee Chairman appealed to the Federal Government to do everything within its powers to pay up the arrears to forestall any crisis.

    Speaking further on the need to support NNPC to sustain petroleum products supply, Hon. Akinlaja said the corporation was overburdened and “because of that, when it runs into hiccups, somebody will say their operations are opaque. Let’s avoid fuel scarcity by supporting NNPC”.

    The Committee also expressed satisfaction with the improvement on the integrity of the pipelines and urged NNPC to expedite action on the remaining ones, especially those linking the Ore Depot from Benin City and to the Ibadan Depot.

    In his presentation to the Committee, Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, reassured Nigerians of the corporation’s preparedness to ensure zero-scarcity of petroleum products during the upcoming festive season and beyond.

    The GMD who was represented by NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, Mr. Henry Ikem Obih, lauded the Committee for its support during the last fuel supply hiccups that occurred in the country from November 2017 to the early part of this year.

    He disclosed that adequate measures have been deployed to avert any form of supply challenge, stressing that even if NNPC were to stop importing fuel as from today, there was enough stock of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in the country to last for 45 days.

  • NNPC records crude oil, gas export of $470m in August

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that crude oil and gas export sale by the corporation in August 2018 was $470 million, indicating an upsurge of about $78million in relation to July oil and gas export figures of $391.91 million.

    NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations report for August 2018 released today in Abuja by the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, indicated that crude oil export sales contributed $337.62 million which represents 71.83 per cent of the dollar transactions compared with $283.43million contribution in the previous month.

    The release said export gas sales during the period amounted to $132.38million, adding that the August 2017 to August 2018 crude oil and gas transactions involved crude oil and gas export worth $5.26billion.

    It further explained that based on the above sales figures, a total export receipt of $450.24 million was recorded in August 2018 as receipt against $382.65million in July 2018.

    Contribution from crude oil during the period, it stated, amounted to $336.43 million, while gas and miscellaneous receipt stood at $101.33 million and $12.48 million respectively.

    A further breakdown of the figures showed that out of the export receipts, $142.31 million was remitted to the Federation Account, while $307.93 million was remitted to fund the JV cost recovery for the month of August, 2018 to guarantee current and future production.

    Read Also: NNPC pumps up petrol price from Fuel Fund

    Total export crude oil & gas receipt for the period August 2017 to August 2018 stood at $5.23billion out of which $3.74 billion was transferred to JV Cash Call as first line charge and the balance of $1.49 billion paid into the Federation Account.

    On Naira payments to the Federation Account, the report informed that NNPC transferred N128.40billion into Account for the month under review. It was also explained that from August 2017 to August 2018, the Federation and JV received N879.02 billion and N651.4billion respectively.

    Providing insight into the corporation’s remittances to the national treasury, the NNPC explained that the Federation Crude Oil & Gas Revenue, Federation Crude Oil and Gas lifting, are broadly classified into Equity Export and Domestic crude which are lifted and marketed by corporation and the proceeds remitted into the Federation Account.

    It informed that Equity Export receipts, after adjusting for Joint Venture (JV) Cash Calls, are paid directly into the Federation Account domiciled in Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

    The corporation explained that domestic crude oil of 445,000bopd was allocated for refining to meet domestic products supply, and payments were effected to the Federation Account by NNPC after adjusting crude & product losses and pipeline repairs & management costs incurred during the period.

    The August 2018 NNPC Financial and Operations Report is the 37th in the series.

  • NNPC to Consumers: Don’t mishandle petroleum products

    As the dry season draws near in the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has warned petroleum products consumers across the nation against mishandling of white products.

    NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in a release on Wednesday in Abuja, stated that experience had shown that commuters stock petroleum products at home or move about with them in their vehicle boot at this period of the year, exposing themselves and others to serious danger.

    Ughamadu said the incident involving a car laden with fuel which burst into flames while in motion last week at Umuode community, Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State, exemplified the danger of transporting imflamable petroleum products in vehicle not made for that purpose.

    The corporation’s spokesman admonished communities hosting NNPC facilities to refrain from taping products from NNPC pipelines or engaging in activities that my lead to spill of petroleum products, saying individuals involved in such an act may suffer untold casualties.

    Read Also: NNPC urges communities to calm vandals

    He encouraged communities in NNPC’s areas of operations to report suspicious movements around the corporation’s facilities to the law enforcement agencies, adding that observing basic safety rule of keeping away from areas where imflamable petroleum products spills had occurred could save lives and properties.

    Recently, fatalities were recorded while property worth millions of Naira were lost when some members of Umuaduru and Umuimo communities in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State were caught in a fire while they were reportedly scooping petrol around NNPC’s pipeline in their community.

    Meanwhile, the NNPC Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, has assured motorists and other consumers of petroleum products of availability of white products for their comfort as the year end festivities draw near.

    Baru explained that NNPC has 37 days fuel sufficiency, according to the release by the NNPC spokesperson, stressing the GMD said that strategies had been put in place to ensure that Nigerians experience a hitch-free festive period.

  • NNPC denies alleged existence of $3.5bn fuel subsidy fund

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation ( NNPC ) on Wednesday denied Senate’s allegation that it had a $3.5 billion fund to surreptitiously subsidise imports of petroleum products.

    The Senate had on Tuesday hinted that it would investigate the fund it said the NNPC was utilising, without subjecting it to parliamentary scrutiny through the national budget.

    NNPC responded in a statement issued by its Spokesman, Ndu Ughamadu, that it did not have $3.5 billion subsidy fund.

    It said a $1.05 billion “National Fuel Support Fund” did exist and was set up by the company “to ensure stability in the petroleum products supply.”

    Read Also: Sokoto lawmaker dumps APC after losing primary

    The corporation said that the fund was jointly managed by a group of bodies that included the NNPC, the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Finance Ministry.

    It said the fund was domiciled in the central bank and NNPC did not independently spend a dime of it.

    Fuel subsidies are contentious in Africa’s top crude oil producer, which imports most of its gasoline due to under-performing refineries and prices are kept artificially low at N145 ($0.48) per litre.

    As fuel prices increase globally, it has become unprofitable for private petrol marketers to import, with the NNPC stepping in to prevent major shortages.

  • NNPC urges communities to calm vandals

    As calm returned to Osisioma Ngwa communities of Imo State following a fire incident last Friday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Monday appealed to the host communities to help stem the spate of vandalism of oil pipeline.

    A release in Abuja by NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, said that preliminary reports of the fire incident which recorded some fatalities and loss of properties affirmed that the inferno resulted from the activities of vandals who had breached System 2Ex Pipeline Right of Way (PROW) in Ososioma.

    The NNPC spokesperson explained that the confirmation of items such as jerrycans, among others, at the scene of the incident, by the report indicated that the activities of vandals in the area ignited the flame.

    Read Also: NNPC records N18.12b monthly surplus

    Ughamadu quoted the NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, as saying that the incessant vandalism of pipeline facilities along System 2Ex PROW has prevented the corporation from pumping fuel to the Enugu Depot.   

    Baru lamented the loss of lives and properties in the inferno which occurred in the wee hours of Friday in Umuaduru and Umuimo communities both in Osisioma Ngwa, in Imo State.

    The GMD appealed to host communities to collaborate with the corporation to tame oil pipeline vandalism in their areas.

    Baru thanked the State fire servicemen and NNPC officials for their prompt response which rapidly brought the situation under control.