Exactly what type of greasy business is going on in Nigeria’s oil industry at the moment?
The warped tales that Nigerians and indeed, the world, are being regaled on daily basis, by the government and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited), concerning the handling of petroleum resources, speak of everything that is wrong with economic management and planning in the present dispensation.
Even for the pillaging and impropriety that have marked activities in Nigeria’s petroleum sector through the years and across various regimes, there is cause to worry at what is presently going on. Brazenness is perhaps, the word.
The apprehension, by both industry watchers and stakeholders, at the moment, is that Nigeria’s oil industry may not survive what appears to be a new regime of shambolic administration that sways between superintendency and wilful business obstructionism.
The unfortunate reality about the country’s petroleum sector at the moment, is that the government and the NNPC have sufficiently muddled issues, intentionally, to the point that virtually nobody, not even experts in the industry, seem to have a firm grasp of what exactly is going on there. The sanity and better control that the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) aimed to instil on the petroleum industry, are yet to materialize.
In 2021, when the PIA came into existence, one of the celebrated immediate fruits of the supposed new order, was the transformation of the 42-year-old Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), into Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), a new entity, supposedly. The failure or refusal, by the government, the sole owner and controller of the two entities, to effect even a distinct nomenclatorial change between the old and new companies, fed the cynicism of those who saw and foresaw no difference between the old and the purported new entity.
To further confirm that indeed, nothing really changed, Mele Kolo Kyari, the chief executive officer of NNPC was retained in the same position for NNPCL. Kyari has proved himself a master. The question is, of what?
To be fair to him, Kyari has never changed one bit. He has remained in NNPCL, as he was in NNPC; something between a smooth salesman, a politician and to some extent, a confidence man. He rarely delivers on what he promises, but who remembers that?
The completion by Aliko Dangote of his highly anticipated refinery and its subsequent commencement of production of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) on September 3 2024, have suddenly presented unforeseen problems for NNPCL, Mele Kyari and the government.
There, certainly, would not have been an issue, it can be wagered, if Bola Tinubu did not take Aso Villa. Tinubu’s presidency, has introduced all manner of complexities in the sector, which Kyari and NNPCL could not have planned for. The price is for Nigerians to pay,anyway.
In the new chaos that has overtaken Nigeria’s petroleum industry, more so with the commencement of PMS production by Dangote, NNPCL and Kyari are looking increasingly ugly.
The State oil company’s discordant tunes about whether it makes sense to buy locally produced petrol or to continue to import, likely from Malta, Nigeria’s 13th oil producing state, is being watched with consternation by Nigerians.
There are other critical questions begging for answer. One, is NNPCL a commercial entity engaged in business in the oil industry, as a competitor with other commercial players, including Dangote Refinery, or is it a supervisory agency in the sector? Is the company licenced to operate as an agent of otherwise competing entities, both producers and distributors? Is Nigeria as represented by NNPCL, an investor in Dangote Refinery? If it is, how m…
The question being asked, who are the owners (Directors) of Dangote Refinery, is NNPC a major shareholder?; why the new price petroleum regime came up, same day with the commencement period of Dangote Refinery Andrew meanwhile the nation Refineries remains in the ‘pipeline’, thanks to Malta connections.