The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, on Tuesday said the oil firm was set to commence the publication of details of its petroleum products’ supplies.
Beyond publishing the corporation’s monthly financial and operations reports, he said plans were afoot to make public all petroleum products supply transactions across the country to further deepen transparency in the system.
Kyari was quoted in a statement issued by the corporation as saying, “We will continue to be transparent; we will do more than you can ever imagine in terms of transparency.
“We will not just publish our financial records, but very soon, we will publish more things that Nigerians need to know, particularly details of petroleum products supply and distribution, which is an area most people don’t understand.”
He said the corporation stood to gain more in terms of reputation and goodwill from being transparent, adding that trust in business required corresponding responsibility of accountability to all stakeholders.
“You lose nothing by being accountable and transparent, and the combination of the two will enable you to have a good relationship with your stakeholders and ultimately lead you to excellent performance,” Kyari said.
Meanwhile, the corporation is set to collaborate with the African Export and Import Bank to finance its critical projects, especially refineries’ rehabilitation and downstream infrastructure, including pipelines.
The NNPC also said it would collaborate with any financial institution willing to finance its major infrastructure.
Kyari disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja when he played host to the Executive Vice President of Afrexim Bank, Amr Kamel, and other top officials of the bank.
Responding to the Kamel’s desire to participate in the Nigerian oil and gas industry, Kyari said the corporation was open to financial and technical partnership with reputable financial institutions like the Afrexim bank to develop the sector.
He said, “We have a number of financing needs; it depends on how much you are bringing to the table. We need support particularly in refinery rehabilitation, depot optimisation and pipeline financing.”
On his part, Kamel said the bank’s management team thought it imperative to interact with the NNPC with a view to seeking collaboration on ways to further grow the oil and gas sector.
Apart from financing of refinery rehabilitation and other downstream projects, he expressed the bank’s interest in participating in some other projects such as the Ajaokuta-Kaduna- Kano pipeline system.
In another development, the NNPC said it was ready to work with the National Assembly and all other stakeholders to pass the long-awaited petroleum legislation.
Kyari made this commitment while making a presentation at the 25th anniversary of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said the passage of the petroleum legislation was imperative as the bill had the prospect to guarantee a robust fiscal regime; protect the environment; ensure development of host communities; ensure proper alignment with other sectors and encourage investors to expand their investments in Nigeria.
“Getting the petroleum legislation passed is the right thing to do because investors will not invest their money if they are not sure of how they are going to get their investment back,” he said.
