The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC said it has set a 10-year timeframe for indigenous oil and gas companies operating in the country to increase their production from 10 per cent to 50 per cent of national production. In a statement in Abuja, Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, said this has becomes necessary following the need for the indigenous firms to increase their footprint in the upstream sub-sector as was the case in the downstream.
Baru who stated this when he received a delegation of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group, IPPG, urged indigenous oil companies to take advantage of the low crude oil price regime to develop their capacity and acquire technology. He said that the NNPC is passionate about collaborating with the indigenous producers in order to grow their capacity and participation in the exploration and production sub-sector in line with government’s local content policy.
He extolled the virtues of indigenous operators and stated that the NNPC was looking forward to a time when about 90 per cent of upstream operations in the country would be controlled by the indigenous producers. Furthermore, he advised members of the IPPG to participate in the forthcoming bid round for about 30 marginal oil fields which would soon be flagged off by the Federal Government. Baru noted that there were numerous opportunities in the marginal fields which would soon be available, while he urged the IPPG to work hand-in-hand with the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to ensure that they met the conditions that would be required from bidders.
He said, “The marginal oil field lease renewal is an opportunity for your group. You will need to engage the DPR early in discussion to find out the conditions that the Federal Government is interested in. For example, the supply of gas to power plants and fertilizer plants and I think your group will be successful.” He also applauded members of the group for their productive community engagement which had stemmed the incidence of pipeline sabotage along the Trans Forcados Pipeline, while he enjoined them to extend similar gesture to the communities around the other crude oil lines to help stabilise national production.
Also speaking, Chairman of the IPPG, Mr. Ademola Adeyemi-Bero, who made a presentation to the NNPC management, said the group was made up of twenty five active indigenous producers and driven by the passion to support the 12 Business Focus Areas of the current management of NNPC and the Seven Big Wins of the Federal Government.
He praised the Federal Government for initiating the Joint Venture cash call exit programme, stressing that the move would bolster their activities in the upstream sub-sector.
The statement said the IPPG was formed a year ago with the mandate to promote and advance the collective interest of members in a coordinated manner as a unified advocacy platform for Federal Government policies in the upstream sub-sector of the oil and gas industry.
