The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is no longer the regulator of the operations in both the upstream and downstream sectors of the oil industry.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the company, Bayo Ojulari, made the clarification in Lagos while speaking with newsmen shortly after his meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
Ojulari”s remarks was on the heels of concern trailing the price volatility of the Premium Motor Spirit, ( PMS) otherwise known as petrol amidst the cold war between the players, particularly management of the Dangote Refinery on one hand, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, (IPMAN), the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, (MOMAN) and the Depots and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria, (DAPPMAN).
The GCEO of the NNPCL declared that by virtue of the Petroleum Industry Act, the NNPCL is no longer responsible for price fixing and regulation of the strategic industry.
He said: “The first thing you have to know is that the PIA did something fundamental.
“Before the PIA in 2021 that rolled in 2022, everything was under NNPC, including some regulations.
“The PIA divided the roles of regulation from what I will call the business.
“The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) is responsible for all downstream regulation and midstream, as you know, and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, (NUPRC) is responsible for all upstream regulations.
“So it’s very important that Nigerians understand that post-PIA, we as NNPC, we are not regulators.”
Giving further clarification, he noted that the NNPCL has since become “a commercial company, which means a company that needs to compete profitably and be successful profitably.”
Ojulari who described the NNPCL as supplier of last resort submitted that it must work along other players to ensure product availability.
“For us as NNPC, our focus is to generate more production. As we generate more production, we believe there’ll be more production to feed up the refineries as much as possible.
“We also believe the additional production will create more flexibility in terms of ability for downstream players to be able to participate effectively.”
While he acknowledged market tensions arising from price volatility, the NNPCL boss urged Nigerians to see the development as a passing phase in transition from full import dependency to domestic refining with the coming on stream of Dangote Refinery with 650,000 barrels per day refining capacity.
He expressed confidence that the average Nigerian consumer will be the ultimate beneficiary when competition triggers low prices at the retail outlets.
“Where there is healthy competition, the buyers are the ultimate beneficiaries.
“And I think for us, we need to keep our mind that the market will stabilize.
“After a while, there’ll be some tension, because we’re going through a major transition.”
He restated that that NNPCL would allow the new regulator in the downstream sector, the NMDPRA “manage the issue of competitiveness,” while declaring that “competitiveness is not easy, and I think in these early stages, we are seeing a lot of tension with willing buyer, willing market.”
On his discussion with President Tinubu, the GCEO of the NNPCL said he briefed Mr. President on the leap in oil production as the NNPCL has been able to ramp up crude oil production from 1.5 million barrels per day last year to over 1.7 million barrels per day.