Chinwendu Obienyi
To continue creating value addition by increasing its competitiveness in the global marketplace as well as to improve the management of the Nigerian national economy, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that it is set to go beyond its current market share of 14 per cent.
Its Group Managing Director, Dr Maikanti Baru, disclosed this during the NNPC Day at the 2018 Lagos International Trade Fair yesterday, while adding that the corporation is expanding and integrating the nation’s gas pipeline network system to meet the unprecedented domestic gas demand.
Baru noted that in the last couple of years, the NNPC has engaged itself in a process of transformation, which includes the creation and rebranding of the corporation’s downstream entities such as the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC), the Nigerian Pipelines and Storage Company (NPSC), NNPC Retail and NNPC Shipping.
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The transformation, he said, is to continue the corporation’s drive to efficiency, accountability and profitability which is answerable to the nation’s energy demands.
The NNPC boss noted that the corporation has made improvements in the tank expansion at Atlas Cove Depot, re-opening of depot facilities at Mosimi, Ibadan, Enugu, Aba & Kano, Aba-PH pipeline, Jetty expansion projects, adding that in its important downstream entity , which is the NNPC retail, is set to go beyond the 14 per cent of local market share.
“To aid in achieving this target, we have expanded our retail outlets, notable examples are, indeed, located here in the South-West. For example, we have the newly constructed ultra-modern mega station along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and so we are not only creating new logos for these companies, we are repositioning them all for global competitiveness in line with the 12 Business Focus Areas of our administration.”, Baru explained.
According to him, this will invariably impact positively on the Nigerian economy in view of the role of the Oil and Gas Industry as the number one foreign exchange earner for the country, and given the position of our corporation as managers of government interests in the sector.
Baru,however, reiterated the corporation’s commitment towards improving its systems, processes and procedures in order to continue to effectively add value to the exploitation of hydrocarbon resources in Nigeria.