By Benjamin Agatha
IN the midst of production and environmental challenges, the Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Malam Mele Kolo Kyari has demonstrated leadership proficiency that is gradually repositioning the company for greater efficiency.
Both at domestic and international levels, NNPC Limited had been facing daunting challenges, but the company is gradually experiencing rebound in its production capacity and efficiency.
From oil theft, bunkering, environmental degradation, low productivity and inaccessibility of its products at international level, the growth and operational development of NNPC Limited, had been stymied.
But through good administration and transparent management exhibited by the Managing Director, the company is rightly and timely making progress and is working for the country at minimum possible cost.
Kyari had successfully put in place, some far reaching decisions, resulting in significant turn around that led the company to in September 2023, recorded its highest crude oil and condensate output.
So far, the company’s production has reached 1.72 million barrels a day, which of course, became the beginning of the nation’s production rebound after many years of underproduction.
At domestic level, the country has being facing the threat of insecurity and severe threats on the NNPC’s facilities, cases abound of high rate of oil theft, bunkering and environmental degradation, while at the International level, Nigeria faces the problem of marketability of its oil products.
The major challenge of the lingering conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic were some of the international crises that had adverse effect on the nation’s crude production, thereby reducing its inflow into international markets.
These developments have impacted so much on the Nigerian crude oil inflows in the international oil market, leading to a dip in demand from the once-dependable Asian market at the onset of hostilities in the Eastern bloc.
Before now, the total lockdown Nigeria had experienced as a result of the ravaging and devastating effect of COVID-19 pandemic had significantly caused set back on the nation’s crude production, which resulted in the deep cut in the nation’s revenue and impacted negatively on it’s economic growth.
NNPCL has also faced the problem of reduced investment in the upstream sector, its supply chain was also disrupted, hence impacting in the upstream operations, ageing oil fields, and oil theft by unscrupulous elements, factors that greatly contributed to production declines in the second half of 2022 and early 2023.
But these challenges are fast becoming a thing of the past with the introduction and implementation of a new framework for the domestic petroleum industry (the PIA of 2021), the rejuvenating of the business landscape, and the re-positioning of NNPC Limited to adopt a more commercial approach to the management of the nation’s hydrocarbon resources.
All these and many more measures were put in place as a result of Kyari’s profer insight. NNPC Limited is now robust. It has secured vital partnerships with notable financial institutions to promote upstream investments in order to restore and sustainably grow production capacity in the coming years.
The company is equally championing concerted efforts in partnership with host communities and private stakeholders to address the security and environmental challenges in the Niger Delta with a view to further fortify production growth.
Nigeria has already begun seeing significant progress on the rebound, as Kyari has demonstrated proficient leadership, and initiated far reaching measures that were in tandem with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which continue to upscale the company’s activities and turn around its production level.
An organization that was once regarded as moribund because of its underperformance had suddenly became a cornerstone for the nation’s economic growth, with greater prospects and efficient outlook.
Kyari had successfully made its operations highly efficient with verifiable financial forecasts; organised work and is being operated in an efficient manner proferly and sensibly.
The Executive Director, Crude & Condensate, NNPC Trading Limited, Maryamu Idris had attested to these facts. In her view, although the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has triggered a situation where India, a primary destination for Nigerian grades, had increased its appetite for discounted Russian barrels to the detriment of some Nigerian volumes, yet NNPC Limited has been up and doing in the production rebound.
Already, the Nigerian crude flow to Europe has increased in a bid to fill supply gaps left by the ban on Russian crude, in addition to sustainably growing upstream production volumes.
NNPC Limited is also increasing its participation in the downstream sector in line with a ‘wells-to-wheels’ approach, taking the country’s unique hydrocarbon molecules as close as possible to end-users.
The vehicle responsible for these changes, is of course the efficient restructuring of the NNPC Trading Company, that’s focused on growing NNPC’s presence in the global market for crude, condensate, gas, and petroleum products.
Kyari’s transparent approach to the company has equally helped in achieving the objectives and vision of the organisation with improved accountability and responsibilities in line with the provisions of PIA.
In spite of the various challenges of production, environmental degradation and sabotage, Kyari has shown real and effective leadership in the management of the company, making it to brace up to a greater future.
Kyari’s effectiveness, honesty and transparency are his key strengths that are working for him, as he fixed eyes in the management of NNPCL to achieve the desired targets in line with the PIA objectives.
His vision is concise, vivid, accurate and clear.
He has created a positive environment for workers to perform better, a development that has attracted the Niger State Government to sign memorandum of understanding with the company on Renewable Energy.
His empathy, self and time management skills as well as his emotional intelligence and creative problem solving have been working for the company, thereby repositioning it to attain greater heights in the nearest future.
Agatha contributed this piece from Maitama, Abuja.