Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday unveiled the new Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
The landmark event officially changes the oil firm from a wholly state-run entity to a commercial oil company, limited by shares.
At the unveiling which took place at the presidential banquet hall in Abuja, President Buhari said his government is transforming the nation’s petroleum industry to strengthen its growth.
Mr Buhari said by chance of history he was privileged to lead the creation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on July 1, 1977.
Forty-Four years later, he was again privileged to sign the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) in 2021, heralding the long-awaited reform of our petroleum sector.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the unveiling of NNPC Limited was a new dawn in the quest for the growth and development of the Nigerian oil and gas industry, opening new vintages for partnerships.
The official unveiling came weeks after the corporation transitioned into a company whose operations will be regulated by the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
The legal transition, based on the new Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, took effect on July 1.
The NNPC completed its incorporation in September last year weeks after the PIA was signed into law by President Buhari.
The NNPC Limited was then floated with an initial capital of N200 billion making history as the company with the highest share capital in the country.
The new entity is expected to become a commercially oriented and profit-driven national petroleum company independent of government, although government bodies remain its shareholders. It will be audited annually.
With the unveiling, the NNPC Limited is expected to be managed as a private energy enterprise, unlike the former corruption-ridden government organisation.
Meanwhile, the NNPC Limited has approved a new pump price after weeks of promises that it will retain N165.
NNPC, in a notice to fuel marketers, directed them to change the petrol price on pumps to N179 per litre from N165 per litre effective today (Tuesday).
This was even as the company equally increased the ex-depot price from N148.17 to N167 per litre.
The new pump price is coming after weeks of petrol scarcity resurfaced across the country as fuel retailers were adopting different price bands to force unofficial deregulation attempts.
(PREMIUM TIMES/Ripples Nigeria)
