President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Monday inaugurated the 11-man board and management team for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
Speaking after the inauguration in his office at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the president charged the board members to focus on profitability, increased production, and robust governance.
President Tinubu stressed that their appointment should not be viewed as mere “cake sharing,” urging optimal performance on their part.
He also called for a critical review of Petroleum Industry Act and recognition of the Niger Delta’s vital role in producing oil.
Addressing State House reporters after the inauguration, Chairman of the 11-man board, Chief Pius Akinyelure, set an ambitious production target of two million barrels per day by 2024 for the NNPCL, stressing the substantial challenges confronting Nigeria’s oil and gas industry.
He also canvassed for a comprehensive overhaul of the national security architecture to address losses incurred through oil theft and pipeline vandalism.
He said: “To make sure that as the key performance indicators of the oil industry in Nigeria, probably, we’ll become number one in Africa and probably competing with leading oil and gas companies around the world. It is not an easy task, but we know we have the challenge of oil stealing, the vandalisation of our pipelines.
“Our commitment is to produce at a rate of two million barrels per day, anytime from next year. But to do this, we have to overhaul our security architecture so that the incidences of stealing, vandalisation of pipelines can be reduced. And this will possibly help to build up our cash flow. And this will possibly help to build up our cash flow”.
Meanwhile, the newly inaugurated board says it is committed to raise the nation’s crude oil production to the minimum of 2 million barrels per day by 2024.
The board also promised that Nigeria would compete with the oil and gas industry around the world while it ensures that the key performance indicators of the oil industry of the country are rated number one in Africa.
The Chairman of the NNPCL Board, Chief Pius Akinyelure, made this known on Monday while speaking to State House Correspondents after the inauguration of the NNPCL Board by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Chief Akinyelure said if the board is to achieve this, the federal government would ensure an overhaul of the security architecture of the oil-producing regions across the country to end the issue of oil theft and vandalisation of pipelines.
“It is not an easy task. We know we have the challenge of oil stealing, and vandalisation of our pipelines, our commitment is to produce 2 million barrels per day anytime from next year but for this, we have to overhaul our security architecture so that the incidences of stealing, vandalisation of oil pipelines can be reduced and this will help to beef up our cash flow and we will become a better nation.”
