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Uche Usim, Abuja
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, on Wednesday explained that the national oil company was not in fighting for market share control or dominance with the planned Dangote Refinery, but providing needed support to the company to boost local refining capacity.
Kyari stated this in Abuja when he received the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, at the NNPC Towers.
According to him, NNPC as the backbone of the Nigerian economy has a duty to support industry players like Dangote Group to achieve the long-held target of making Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products.
The NNPC GMD assured that the same level of support would be provided to other promoters of refineries, pointing out that the ultimate goal was to enhance in-country production to the point of self-sufficiency and ultimately for export.
Earlier in his presentation, Dangote emphasized that the business approach of the Dangote Refinery was to see NNPC as a collaborator rather than a competitor, noting that the refinery would rely heavily on the Corporation’s invaluable knowledge of the refining business in Nigeria to achieve its central objective.
Dangote aligned his company with the Federal Government’s aspiration to ensure adequate in-country refining capacity, stating that upon completion the refinery would dedicate 53 per cent of its projected 650,000 barrels per day refining capacity to the production of petrol.
“The most important thing for us is to see how we can partner with NNPC, it is not to see how we can compete with NNPC. We would like NNPC to be part of us and we also want to be part of NNPC. I think that is the only way we can achieve a win-win situation,” he said.
