The senate has called on the management of the newly established Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to expedite actions on the country’s Frontier Exploration Services (FES) in line with provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The Senate through its Committee on Petroleum Upstream Chaired by Senator Albert Bassey gave the charge while on oversight visit to NNPC corporate headquarters in Abuja.
Bassey explained that the mission of his Committee was to ascertain the preparedness of NNPC Limited to properly implement the PIA, five months after it was signed into law.
He said the new legal framework is aimed at making the Nigerian oil and gas sector a lot more competitive and attractive to investors and to yield better returns for the Nigerian people.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee said the red chamber will continue to put close surveillance on the activities of NNPC Limited to ensure strict compliance with the PIA and the smooth take off of the frontier Exploration Services.
In his reply, the Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Limited, Mele Kyari hailed the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act(PIA), saying that the new law is beginning to yield fruits with greater inflows of investment portfolios coming into the country.
Kyari, however, raised serious concerns about the slow pace of work on Frontier Exploration Services (FES) in the country, blaming it on Nigeria’s security challenges.
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Kyari disclosed that even though NNPC Limited has found oil in commercial values in virtually all the frontiers basins with seismic activities completed in Sokoto basin; exploration in the Chad basin has been seriously hampered.
But apart from the security challenges, Kyari said the limited budget of 30% of NNPC Limited profit in oil and gas in the PIA as well as poor funding of the 2021 budget are major constraints that need improvement.
Kyari left Nigeria with a warning to quickly explore and exploit all its oil deposits in the next five years if the country hopes to reap maximum benefits from the God given resource.
The NNPC Limited boss is however excited about Nigeria’s new prospect post-PIA era as one of the most transparent and competitive markets in the world.
He said the new legal framework has raised investors’ confidence in the Nigerian market and gradually changing the narratives away from those years of stagnation and running at losses.
According to Kyari, the company is being re-engineered to reflect the dictates of the new law and ensure that it yields profits for Nigerian people.
Kyari said his management will ensure that all the assets of the defunct Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) are duly transferred to NNPC Limited within 24 months in line with provision of the PIA, explore the potential of going public within thirty months and close all outstanding industrial disputes with partners before August, 2022.
At the end of deliberations, the Senate Committee expressed satisfaction about activities of NNPC Limited especially as it relates to the smooth take off of the Petroleum Industry Act(PIA).
The Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream rounded off its oversight with a similar visit to the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA) where it raised concerns over findings that the agency spent a whopping N11b on recurrent expenditure including salaries while its capital stood at a meagre N700million.
Editor : Anoyoyo Ogiagboviogie
