NNPC can become Africa’s Saudi Aramco with right decisions-Dangote

…Says national coy needs huge investment to meet demand

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited  has what it takes to become the African version of Saudi Arabia’s Aramco in the near future if it  rolls out massive investments in terms of oil and gas to meet the demand for these commodities.

Africa’s richest man and Chairman of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, who made this submissions  at the ongoing 2023 Upstream Investment Management Services Ltd (NUIMS) Annual Value Assurance Review (AVAR) Workshop, said the national oil firm should invest more because there were many off-takers waiting to off-take the products from the company.

He said  that the oil giant could generate billions of dollars in revenue if the right decisions were made. The year’s theme was: ‘Consolidating for Growth in PIA Era.’

He explained that a good investment manager would actively seek for investment opportunities, assess them and take shrewd investment decisions.

He further stated that the NNPCL could generate billions of dollars in revenue if the right decisions were made, as the Petroleum Industry Act had brought the transformation of the oil firm from a government establishment to a commercial entity with no recourse to government funding.

“I truly believe that NNPC should be our African Aramco. You have what it takes to take you up there and I am very happy. There is nothing that is impossible. You can make it possible and don’t let anything scare you.

“It is just the same thing with us.  If I tell you about our own story, you will be shocked as to how. It wasn’t only the refinery that we started about six years ago. We had 32 projects that we all rolled out at the same time.

“But then, on the way we had lots of hitches here and there where the devaluation of the currency, COVID, and challenges of infrastructure set in. If you want to do a real project in Nigeria, you have to look at the infrastructure that we have, because the infrastructure we have is not meant for mega projects.

“We need to look at our infrastructure and see how we can take ourselves to the next level and it has to be driven by NNPC because they are the largest conglomerate and whatever happens to NNPC and their assets, it actually happens to us either directly or indirectly.

“Without you doing well, the country cannot do well. As the investment arm of NNPC, NUIMS plays a critical role in managing the federal government’s interest in the oil and gas industry – you are a partner in the Joint Venture (JV) assets and the concessionaire in the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) arrangements.

“ As important as its oversight function is, my expectation in this post-PIA era is that NUIMS should pivot from being overly focused on its role as a ‘watchdog’ to acquiring the mind-set of an aggressive investment manager,” the business magnate stated

He said it was important to look at the infrastructure in Nigeria and see “how we can take ourselves to the next level and it has to be driven by NNPCL because they are the largest conglomerate and whatever happens to NNPCL’s assets, it actually happens to us, either directly or indirectly.”

Also speaking at the event, the Chairman, Heirs Holding, Tony Elumelu, said efforts made by NNPCL in restoring Nigeria’s oil production impacted positively on the output of Heirs Oil and Gas.

The Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said the challenges confronting the oil and gas industry globally had made it compelling for the oil company to come up with more ingenious ways of doing things.

He admitted that there had been challenges with security and underinvestment in recent times, but noted that with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act, NNPCL was more better positioned to create value for Nigerians.

“The crux of the industry is to make sure the upstream industry works. If the upstream works, there would be cash in the country. We are in cash crunch in the country today, we are in forex crunch today because the upstream has not gotten to a level where we can have surplus to support the economy,” Kyari stated.