Ike Amos
28 May 2018, Sweetcrude, Abuja — The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Sunday, said its long-term survival is based on discovering crude oil in the frontier basins and the country’s refineries returning to optimal capacity.
In a statement in Abuja, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, noted that going by the tremendous changes at play in the petroleum industry landscape globally, it had become expedient for oil companies to, as a long-time survival strategy, adapt to the changes for efficiency, growth and profitability.
Baru, who was speaking at the NNPC First Quarter 2018 Top Management Steering Committee (Steerco) Meeting in Abuja, said the corporation was already fine-tuning strategies to enhance its position as a fully integrated national energy company, ready to prosper despite the changing dynamics of the global Oil and Gas Industry.
According to him, some of the strategies considered by the corporation included reviewing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), setting realistic targets for immediate sign-off, as well as spending items capable of improving the organization’s bottom-line.
Other strategies, Baru noted, are expediting action on the holistic rehabilitation of the refineries; strengthening internal control mechanisms and intensifying exploration efforts in the frontier Basins.
He said, “The changes we are seeing in the industry over the last few years call for some action on our part. This is because as a business concern, we don’t live in isolation in the Industry and therefore, we must act now.
“Today, we are reviewing the mission and vision of the corporation and have also ventured into renewable energy and power sectors.”
Speaking at the meeting, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Downstream, Engr. Henry Ikem-Obih said a lot of work had been done towards getting NNPC on the same pedestal with its peers, even as he commended the commitment and the resolve of the GMD at investing in NNPC’s downstream supply and distribution assets.
Obih stated that now, the corporation’s focus in the downstream sub-sector revolved around imbibing world-class culture, implementing best practices, focusing on cost reduction, improving efficiency, deploying cutting-edge technologies and having a clean balance sheet that reflects NNPC’s corporate business vision.
“Gradually, we are repositioning from an intervention engine for the nation to one that is ready to make a profit, grow and create value for our teeming stakeholders,” Obih stated.
In his opening remarks at the occasion, the convener of the meeting and Group General Manager, Corporate Planning & Strategy Division, Mr. Bala Wunti, said the essence of the Steerco meeting was to review performance, redefine expectations, identify areas of improvement and implement actionable items that would boost efficiency, and conversely, high profitability.
He said the meeting had brought to the fore areas yearning for further improvement which the CP&S Division would vigorously pursue to ensure that the NNPC continue to stand firm on the path of growth and profitability.
“It is important that we do what we need to do like any other NOC to move on the upward trajectory and be able to achieve our mandate of delivering value to our major shareholders, who are Nigerians,” Wunti stated.
On her part, the Legal Adviser to the corporation, Mrs. Hadiza Coomasie, said although, there was a lot of work to be done, positives from the Steerco Meeting would enable NNPC Management to know the current position of corporation and outlook.
