NNPC: Borrow a big leaf from Saudi Aramco’s management

BY SUNNY CHUBA NWACHUKWU

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, established recently through the instruments of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to function and fully operate as a profit oriented company, along with the Nigeria Midstream Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), is at liberty to do business and record exploits in the oil industry without any form of hindrance.
The business opportunities are there in abundance for these agencies and parastatals, to leverage the growth potentials at their reach (considering the country’s large and very attractive market). This will aid in creating tremendous wealth, like their contemporaries in other continents; especially if they can apply the templates of some of their counterparts, like tapping from the world’s richest oil company, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, Saudi Aramco, that is worth seven hundred and eighty one billion dollars ($781,000,000,000). This is one company that has performed tremendously well in the oil business, with sophisticated high tech online, real time, monitoring devices in their control room (of 224 digital screens) constantly used to check every drop of oil that is produced, along with its meticulously planned oil business operational activities.
The national downstream regulatory authority, this time, needs to save the economy from further financial bleeding and double jeopardy of economic failures that result from the manner and ways our oil business is being managed; which is very poor, if the recent importation of substandard refined products is taken into consideration. This, no doubt, slows down the economy, the productivity speed, and also draws the nation’s economic performance and social growth backwards.
Business procedures, practises and policies require a very aggressive, well structured daily operational plan that is strictly adhered to, in a legitimate manner, every day (as observed in the case of the Saudi national oil company). No wonder they have not failed as the world’s largest oil producing company, till date. In our own local environment, we shall continue to wish that all the privately owned oil refining facilities in the country will keep growing in leaps and bounds!
Sentiments and sluggishness are not virtues of seriously minded business entities. This is why it bleeds the heart and beats the imagination, whenever unexpected errors as we regularly observe, are attributed to the ways and manners the four government-owned, comatose national oil refining facilities were run in the past.
There is belief, still with a tinge of hope, that the presently restructured profit oriented company, NNPC Limited, shall be prudently managed (financially), for profitable achievements in all its productive operations and activities. And in the case of the refineries, to the ultimate advantage, and for the nation’s economic growth and development, by those appointed to manage them (after the refineries’ ongoing rehabilitation works). The time has come to put on a correctional mindset, with professional core values, and take the centre stage in the oil business tasks and responsibilities of the managers in that sector. For once, to do things and run the activities purely as a money making business, to the pecuniary gains and advantages of the country.
How can a well endowed country like Nigeria (with rich natural resources in oil and gas, among numerous other minerals) be wallowing in abject poverty, and be tagged the ‘world’s poverty capital’ (as can be observed by the nation’s unending borrowings)? The government relies more on external funding for most of its capital expenditures in roads, railways and other strategic infrastructural development. These activities take place in the midst of obviously observed indices that are characterised by recession in the economy. This is openly demonstrated not only by her weak local currency exchange rate, rising unemployment rate and the continued rising inflation, but by the financial counsel that keeps coming from the world’s multilateral financial institutions, the likes of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), and others.
They keep commenting that the economy still needs to be further restructured through currency devaluation, etcetera. When shall all these heartbreaking, demoralising characteristics associated with this economy end in Nigeria? The solution lies within, and in ourselves. It cannot and will never come from the World Bank, IMF, nor from borrowing from the Chinese financial institutions.
We must rejig the trend, and do it from within. I have to commend the visibly, tireless efforts of the man at the helm of affairs in the nation’s apex bank, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele. He has always, and consistently, been able to roll out packages, financial plans and programmes; through which the policies for import substitution and backward integration strategies will work and raise productivity for the economy. I personally commend his wits! We have hope for things to turn around for better in the economy, if all concerned and those in charge take it up patriotically.
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From the mailbox
Thanks again for last week’s article. This time around, I see that you explored heavily, development economic issues. By the way, you left me confused about the illegal refineries. Is there a positive side to what they do? Can one really depend on their finished products? Do they have the scientific knowledge of what they do? Reminds me of the current very disgraceful news of official importation and distribution of adulterated products. Anyway, well done for being regular and disciplined with these columns.

Boniface Aleobua (aleobua@yahoo.co.uk), water and sanitation specialist, a retired geologist wrote from his base in South Africa.

My response:
On the illegal refiners, they operate illegitimately because they use stolen crude oil/stolen raw material. They operate their refining process in a crude manner (further creating air/environmental pollution, which the Rivers State governor is fighting them for, for the health hazards their method of operation creates). They need to be made compliant and lawfully registered under the regulatory requirements by the authority (formerly DPR/now NMDPRA).
Be that as it may, their product (AGO is of standard, and it is sold @N95/litre instead of N395/litre, according to Sen. Ita Enang, SA to the President on Niger Delta Affairs). You see, they have their good side, and by their engagement with the FG in March 2021 at Abuja, they are willing to comply fully because, (1) stolen raw material isn’t cheaper. (2) some of them were already trained in related vocations by the FG at South Africa (Militants’ package by late Yaradua). All they need is to be integrated formally, and undergo some kind of professional capacity building by the Petroleum Training Institute for these oil entrepreneurs, through workshops that will enable them to operate in professionally global best practises. By doing so, the stolen resources will stop, and the government will gain back on such leakages. Invariably, the economy will improve because, their contribution will increase productivity, and also contribute in LOCAL REFINING that will shut out importation of refined products, and put an end to this notorious and obnoxious fuel subsidy, which has always been a window for syphoning of public funds.

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