NNPC rules out equity sale, blames low oil prices

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) blamed low oil prices and the bad state of the industry for its decision to rescind the sale of its equity oil assets.

This was made known by Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari who was the keynote speaker at the 45th Anniversary Lecture of the Nigeria Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE).

Kyari in his speech said that the apex oil company is proactive bearing in mind the place of oil and gas in the next 40 to 50 years.

Similarly, the Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, NNPC, Meyiwa Eyesan, who confirmed the development, added that the NNPC has reduced its cash call debts in the Joint Ventures (JVs) with International Oil Companies (IOCs) to  $2 billion, Vanguard reports.

According to her, the reduction in JV with Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Eni and Total was achieved between 2015 and 2020 from $5 billion in 2015 to over $2 billion in five years, paying about $3 billion of the JV cash call arrears.

Speaking at the lecture held virtually in commemoration of the first Akomeno Oteri Annual Lecture themed; “Long-term funding for E&P Business in Nigeria: Strategies and sustainability,” the Group General Manager, Corporate Planning and Strategy, NNPC, said that the corporation is not in dire need to sell off its equities in oil companies that are in partnership with NNPC.

She said: “This is the wrong time to sell our equity to any trusted partners. What we have done in the upstream sector is what we are going to replicate in the downstream by going into partnership with private investors.

“The pipelines and the refineries are open to partnership on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) bases.”

However, other panellists who participated on the online Lecture advocated for Energy Bank as a means to properly fund the oil and gas sector.