NNPC can survive without IOCs, says Kyari

Oil Exploration in Nigeria

By Favour & Akinola Ajibade

In a manner showing the capacity of the National Petroleum Company Limited ( NNPC), to exist independent of the International Oil Companies ( IOCs), its  Group Chief Executive officer, Mallam Mele Kolo Kyari has said the company has what its take to explore hydrocarbon resources alone, in the event that  Oil  Majors leave Nigeria.

According to him, NNPC boasts of  $60 billion assets, which is huge enough to operate without IOCs. 

.Kyari said:  "We are a huge company. We have a $60 billion asset so we can …so we can run without help , but we need help…no one will stop us…if you want to do so, we will kick you out

Speaking during the 2023  Annual Olobiri Lecture Series and Energy Forum ( OLEF) in Abuja, Kyari said oil would still be relevant globally in the next few years, despite  campaigns that the world is transiting from fossils to zero-carbon initiative.

In the lecture themed: “Effective Gas Resources Utilisation: A Lever for Enhancing Energy Security and Achieving Net-zero Emission Goals in Nigeria,” Kyari explained that the world is not leaving fossil fuels soon, despite the pretence.

He argued that it is practically Impossible to change all the vehicles and tricykles between now and 2035, adding that crude oil continue to be relevant. 

Continuing further,he said  NNPC has made massive investment in order to ensure that its focus on gas exploration works, by guaranteeing the future of the industry.

He added: “ Nigeria needs  cash flow and the cash flow is what the country needs to ensure that our( Nigeria) tomorrow is self-reliant.Therefore, we are leveraging the position of the oil industry,” 

He noted that before now, everybody was looking for oil , but noted that now Nigeria needs to start looking for gas, with some associated oil instead of the other way round.

Building Nigeria’s gas resourcss, Kyari said, means building the country, stating the NNPC was going beyond power point presentations to the reality of actual work.

“We are a huge company. We have a $60 billion asset so we can …so we can run without help , but we need help…no one will stop us…if you want to do so, we will kick you out…we are the largest economy in Africa and many of these countries rely substantially on our prosperity.
“To do this we are building infrastructure…we are engaging and we are having the line of sight to excellent engineering, financing and we will build a line all the way from Brass to Morocco and Europe,” he added.
He explained that the NNPC and government spent humongous sums to reduce oil theft in conjunction with the locals and the security agencies.
“We are almost running solo, some of our partners will say get out…we have talked all the talk. If they walk away we will stay, of course we are working assiduously,” he noted.

Nigeria as a resource rich country with opportunities to sustainability create prosperity, he said, has maintained a strong posture of balanced energy transition that recognises the role of hydrocarbon for years longer than anticipated by other jurisdictions.

Nigeria, NNPC's helsman, is well  positioned to lead the African continent in a just and gradual energy transition.

“Nigeria, like other African counties is endowed with an increasing young population, which needs a stronger economy to continue to generate beneficial employment to lift citizens from poverty to prosperity.

“This will no doubt continue to push our nation’s energy demand faster than what renewable energy technologies are likely to offer in the near future.
“We are therefore leveraging the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to attract more investment in the Nigerian petroleum sector, to continue to guarantee access to energy while aligning with global energy transition,” he explained.

Still on gas, Kyari stated that NNPC and its partners are working assiduously to timely deliver the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline (AKK) and the $25 billion Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline projects  amongst others. 

Kyari stated that Nigeria’s domestic gas infrastructure network has an existing capacity to transport about 6.9 Billion Standard Cubic Feet (BCF) of gas to support power generation and gas-based industries.

He pointed out that the country’s huge investment in gas infrastructure is hinged on its growing natural gas reserves, thus supporting the nation’s aspiration to create Africa’s biggest industrial hub powered by low-carbon energy.
“NNPC is taking advantage of Nigeria’s huge natural gas reserves of over 200 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) with a potential to grow to 600 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) as more investment is expected due to the recent resolution of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) disputes with partners. This significant reserve will serve as a low-carbon energy alternative that will support growth in the power and industrial sectors, address energy poverty, reduce carbon-footprint and create more employment opportunities,” he affirmed..

He added that NNPC is  making progress on the planned Nigeria-Morocco and the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipelines, that will connect West African countries to deliver natural gas to the international markets.