President Bola Tinubu has hailed Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, as a shining example of his administration’s Renewed Hope agenda as the GCEO marks his 60th birthday on January 8.
In a congratulatory message released by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, President Tinubu praised Kyari’s leadership in transforming NNPCL into a profitable organisation, citing notable achievements including the recent resuscitation of two refineries and increased oil production to 1.8 million barrels per day.
The commendation comes days after the restart of operations at the Warri Refinery, which Tinubu described as “a remarkable way to end the year” following earlier successes with the Port Harcourt Refinery.
The Warri facility, which is now operating at 60 per cent capacity, marks a milestone in the administration’s energy efficiency plans.
“Kyari is a shining example and embodiment of the ideals of the Renewed Hope Agenda. I commend his commitment to creating new opportunities and ensuring the growth and sustainability of Nigeria’s energy sector,” Onanuga quoted Tinubu as hailing the NNPCL GCEO.
President Tinubu had earlier directed the NNPCL to restore the country’s all four refineries to good working condition to establish the country as a hub for crude oil refining in Africa.
Under Kyari’s leadership, NNPCL has recorded increased domestic natural gas consumption alongside other operational improvements.
Tinubu, in a recent tweet, urged the NNPCL GCEO to consolidate on his achievements by accelerating repair work on the Kaduna Refinery and the second refinery in Port Harcourt to further position Nigeria as a global energy provider.
In his birthday message, Tinubu prayed for Kyari’s continued good health, wisdom, and strength to serve the nation while mentoring the next generation of energy sector leaders.
Kyari has remained resilient, professional and focused in his bid to change the bad narratives of the oil and gas sector. He has painstakingly introduced several innovations into the oil company, which had since positioned the NNPCL on an upward trajectory.
With his TAPE Agenda (Transparency, Accountability and Performance Excellence), Kyari has turned around the oil company, making it competitive at the global market and thereby increasing the nation’s prosperity.
Beyond running the company on sound and globally recognized and acclaimed management principles, Kyari has repositioned the NNPC Ltd as one of the leading oil companies in the world.
In addition, he has used his position as helmsman of the company to aid in the tackling of key challenges confronting the Nigerian economy. One of these is the vexed question of crude oil theft, which had challenged successive governments in Nigeria since the country’s return to representative democracy in 1999.
It is on record that the NNPC under Kyari’s leadership, designed the “Crude Theft Monitoring Application”, an application, which has options for reporting incidents, with prompt follow up and responses, and another for crude sales documents validation.
Prior to the launch of the application, Kyari had taken leading officials of the Nigerian government to the Niger Delta creeks to tackle the menace of oil theft. His effort paid off as a four-kilometre illegal oil connection line from the Forcados Terminal into the sea where for nine years, criminals had been siphoning Nigeria’s oil, was discovered.
More discoveries of crude oil theft and illegal pipeline connections have also been made by the NNPC Ltd working collaboratively with security agencies.
Success achieved in this regard proved pivotal as Kyari’s efforts have also rekindled investor confidence in the sector. Under his visionary leadership, the NNPC Ltd has been able to reduce pipeline vandalization and crude oil thefts in the Niger Delta areas. As against the trend, today, Nigeria’s crude oil production has increased to approximately 1.8 million barrels per day (inclusive of condensate).
The 1.8 million barrels per day achievement was announced last Thursday during a meeting held at the Oil Production War Room located at the NNPC Headquarters in Abuja.
The meeting presided over by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri was attended by the Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board, Chief Pius Akinyelure; the Group Chief Executive of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, the Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Adedapo Segun, the Executive Vice President, Downstream, Mr. Isiyaku Abdullahi, the Executive Vice President Upstream, Udobong Ntia, and
the Chief Upstream Investment Officer of NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), Mr. Bala Wunti, among others.
Lokpobiri had described the feat as a remarkable one as the NNPC Ltd has demonstrated that it has the potential to achieve and even surpass the two million barrels per day crude oil production target for December this year.
The minister said, “Today we are grateful that we have crossed a line of 1.8 million barrels per day, and also crossed 7.4 BCF of gas, this is our agenda. Today, the entire team is fully aligned and committed to delivering greater value, and we’re committed to delivering two million barrels by the end of the year.
“This is possible. This is achievable. I’m a very proud minister. We can do it again. Let me formally, on behalf of the Ministry of Petroleurn Resources, on behalf of the federal government of Nigeria, congratulate the Chairman, board members, and the management of NNPC for navigating this process.”
Under the leadership of Kyari, the NNPC Ltd has been leading the charge with substantial investments in gas, significantly impacting the sector’s contribution to the GDP.
Recent statistics underscore the importance of these initiatives in the context of Nigeria’s economic landscape.
In the second quarter of 2024, Nigeria’s oil sector recorded a GDP growth rate of 3.52%, reflecting a recovery from previous downturns.
This growth is attributed not only to crude oil production but increasingly to the expanding natural gas sector. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the oil and gas sector’s contribution to GDP has seen a marked improvement, with gas output playing a vital role.
Recognizing the strategic importance of gas, NNPC Ltd is shifting its focus from solely oil production to include significant gas investments.
With Nigeria possessing over 200 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, the potential for growth is immense.
The completion of the Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK) gas pipeline is set to enhance the transportation of gas across Nigeria, facilitating greater domestic supply and export capabilities.
Kyari’s programmes and policies have enhanced transparency and efficiency in the operations of the company which has led to its continued growth in profitability since he assumed office in 2019 – a drastic turn from consistent losses the NNPC had suffered before 2019.
Under Kyari’s leadership, the NNPC has invested heavily in domestic gas footprint expansion projects through the delivery of the trans-Nigerian gas pipeline projects which includes the escravos project, the Lagos pipelines system, and the Ajaokuta-Kano Gas Pipelines.
As a national oil company, the NNPC is cooperating with its partners to solve the energy challenges facing the country.
The footprints of Kyari in the oil and gas sector were also felt when he led the NNPCL to secure a $7bn fresh investments from India for Nigeria’s petrochemical industry.
In the area of gas infrastructure, Kyari is also leading the NNPC to implement the AKK Gas pipeline project
The AKK Gas pipeline is an integral part of the Trans-Nigeria Gas Pipeline (TNGP) with a capacity to transport about 2.2 billion cubic feet of gas per day.
The project, when completed, is expected to ease natural gas transportation from Ajaokuta in Kogi State to Kano through several states.
In demonstration of his support to the agenda of the President, Kyari had, shortly after the removal of fuel subsidy and in line with the directive of Tinubu to provide alternative fuel option, led the NNPCL to enter into partnership with NIPCO Gas Limited to develop Compressed Natural Gas stations across the country.
The move is part of the NNPCL’s commitment to reducing carbon footprint and providing cheaper alternative fuel to motorists.
The current initiative is in addition to the phased deployment of 56 CNG stations planned by NNPC Retail across the country.
This landmark collaboration aims to expand the country’s CNG infrastructure, improve access to CNG, and accelerate the adoption of cheaper and cleaner alternative fuel for buses, cars and Keke NAPEP.
This will significantly reduce the cost of transportation and engender sustainable national economic growth.
Under the NNPC-NIPCO strategic partnership, 35 state-of-the-art CNG stations will be constructed nationwide, including three Mother stations.
Once fully operational, the stations can service over 200,000 vehicles daily, thereby significantly reducing carbon emissions and associated impact on climate.
From a loss position of N1.7bn in 2019, the management of the NNPC under Kyari reversed the trend by posting profit of N287bn in 2020, N674.1bn in 2021, N2.54tn in 2022 before hitting the current figure of N3.29tn in 2023.
This means that within the last four years, NNPC Ltd, under the leadership of the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, has made N6.8tn in profit.
Also, the company’s earnings rose significantly as revenue in 2023 was N23.99bn, representing an increase of 1,344 percent when compared with the N8.81bn in 2022.
The huge revenue inflow translated into a significant improvement in gross profit rising by N4.92tn to N7.03tn in 2023 as against the N2.11tn recorded in 2022.
This further boosted the level of NNPC Ltd’s profitability as Profit Before Income Tax rose by N4.18tn to N5.98tn in 2023 from N1.8tn in 2022.
As a result of the improvement in profitability, income tax paid to the government for the 2023 financial period also rose by N1.87tn from N717.07bn in 2022 to N2.69tn
The shareholders of NNPC Ltd also received a final dividend of N2.1tn, which translated into a dividend payout ratio of 80 per cent during the 2023 financial period.
What this means is that through the N2.69tn tax paid to the government and the N2.1tn dividend payout, NNPC Ltd has been able to provide liquidity of about N4.79tn to the federation.
Through his TAPE initiative, Kyari has also returned the NNPC to the path of transparency and accountability.
