NNPC to support FG’s deployment of gas facilities

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) has assured of its support in the ongoing initiatives by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources to provide alternate energy source to Nigerians.

The corporation said this would do this through aggressive activation of Compressed Natural Gas refill stations for motorists across the country.

The Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja by the corporation’s spokesperson, Kennie Obatetu.

Kyari said the NNPC had already keyed into the gas penetration agenda as championed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva.

According to him, the corporation would continue to work with other stakeholders in the industry to provide viable alternatives to petrol, which would ultimately lead to reduction in demand for the product and eventual drop in price.

Kyari reassured of the commitment of the corporation towards openness and greater transparency in its operations, adding that in the months ahead, the NNPC would make public its 2019 Audited Financial Statements as a sequel to the 2018 AFS released in June this year.

Commenting on the status of the nation’s refineries, the NNPC boss hinted that the plants were deliberately shut down to allow for a diagnosis of the issues.

He posited that these issues had over time made it impossible for the facilities to operate up to their name plate capacity.

He highlighted that the shutdown also became inevitable due to difficulties in feeding them with crude oil via the pipelines that had been completely compromised by vandals.

Kyari disclosed that the corporation was moving rapidly to execute complete rehabilitation of the refineries under an exercise that would guarantee restoration of the facilities to at least 90 per cent capacity utilisation.