NNPC Limited

Nigerian National Petroleum Company

The NNPC Towers
Company type	Government owned
Industry	Oil and gas
Founded	1977; 47 years ago (1977)
Headquarters	NNPC Towers, Herbert Macaulay Way, CBD, Abuja, FCT, Nigeria
Key people	Mele Kyari (GCEO) Dr Pius O Akinyelure (Board Chairperson)
Products	Crude Oil Gas Petroleum product Petrochemical
Website	nnpcgroup.com

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited is a state-owned oil company in Nigeria. Still a fully-owned government company, it was transformed from a corporation into a limited liability company in July 2022.^[1] NNPC Limited is the only entity licensed to operate in the country's petroleum industry. It partners with foreign oil companies to exploit Nigeria's fossil fuel resources. The NNPC, with an asset of $153B (USD), is the largest national oil company in Africa. The company boasts of extensive infrastructure and investment in the downstream, midstream and upstream of the Nigerian petroleum industry.

NNPC was established on 1 April 1977 as a merger of the Nigerian National Oil Corporation and the Federal Ministry of Petroleum and Energy Resources.^[2] NNPC by law manages the joint venture between the Nigerian federal government and a number of foreign multinational corporations, which include Royal Dutch Shell, Agip, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Chevron, and Texaco (now merged with Chevron). Through collaboration with these companies, the Nigerian government conducts petroleum exploration and production.^[2]

The NNPC Towers, located in Abuja, serves as the headquarters of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). The complex consists of four identical towers and is situated on Herbert Macaulay Way in the Central Business District of Abuja. NNPC also maintains zonal offices in cities including Lagos, Kaduna, Benin City, Port Harcourt, and Warri. Additionally, it operates an international office in London, United Kingdom.^[3]

In October 2019, NNPC announced the signing of a $2.5 billion pre-payment agreement with Nigeria LNG to fund upstream gas development projects.^[4]

In December 2021, the Federal Government of Nigeria and NNPC Ltd signed a ₦621 billion Memorandum of Understanding to finance the construction of critical road infrastructure across the country.^[5]

Following passage of a Petroleum Industry Act in August 2021, NNPC now operates as a commercial entity without relying on government funding and direct controls. NNPC was established as a limited liability corporation in the hopes that a private entity will find it easier to access international capital markets. The company will continue to ensure energy security in Nigeria.^[6] On 27 June 2024, it delivered its first DES LNG Cargo at Futtsu, Japan.^[7]

President Buhari appointed Mele Kyari as the new group managing director (GMD) now known as the group chief executive officer(GCEO) of NNPC.^[8] Kyari replaces Maikanti Baru.

Late Dr. Maikanti Baru (7 July 1959 – 29 May 2020) was the former group managing director (GMD). He was appointed group managing director on 4 July 2016, under the presidency of Muhammadu Buhari; he succeeded Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, the Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum (2015–2019).^[9]

In compliance with Section 59 (2) of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of a new Board and Management team for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) with effect from December 1, 2023.

1. Chief Pius Akinyelure — Non-Executive Board Chairman (Former Executive Director, Mobil Oil)

2. Mele Kyari — Group Chief Executive Officer

3. Umar Ajiya — Chief Financial Officer

4. Mr. Ledum Mitee — Non-Executive Director

5. Mr. Musa Tumsa — Non-Executive Director

6. Mr. Ghali Muhammad — Non-Executive Director

7. Prof. Mustapha Aliyu — Non-Executive Director

8. Barr. David Ogbodo — Non-Executive Director (Former NNPC Group General Manager, Downstream Investments)

9. Ms. Eunice Thomas — Non-Executive Director

The NNPC's business operations are managed through Strategic Business and Corporate Services Units (SBUs/CSUs) in diverse locations across Nigeria. In that case; The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation initiated a recruitment scheme and since then, until date the NNPC recruitment have been a yearly scheme.^[10]

The NNPC Group comprises the NNPC Board, the group managing director's office, Five directorates as listed below. Each of the directorate is headed by an executive vice president (EVP). Its divisions are headed by chiefs, while its subsidiary companies are headed by managing directors.^[11] NNPC has several subsidiaries, two partly owned subsidiaries and 16 associated companies.

Directorates:

• Upstream
• Downstream
• Gas, Power and New Energy
• Finance
• Business Services

Strategic Business & Corporate Services Units:

NNPC acquired Oando's OVH Energy in September 2022 and took over its 380 filling stations.^[12]

NNPC has sole responsibility for upstream and downstream developments. In 1988, the corporation was commercialised into 11 strategic business units, covering the entire spectrum of oil industry operations: exploration and production, gas development, refining, distribution, petrochemicals, engineering, and commercial investments.^[13]

According to the Nigerian constitution, all minerals, gas, and oil the country possesses are legally the property of the Nigerian Federal Government. The revenue gained by the NNPC accounts for 76% of federal government revenue^[14] and 40% of the entire country's GDP. As of 2000, oil and gas exports account for 98% of Nigerian export earnings.^[15]

The efforts of the Mallam Mele Kyari-led Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to entrench the culture of transparency in the system have begun to receive recognition with the Corporation named as the “Government Agency of the Year 2020 (Transparency)” by the New Telegraph.^[16]

In keeping with the Transparency, Accountability, and Performance Excellence (TAPE) agenda of the Mele Kyari-led management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the corporation and the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) have set up a joint committee to deepen collaboration in order to promote transparency in the Oil and Gas Industry.

Speaking at the inauguration of the NNPC-NEITI Joint Committee on Mainstreaming and Remedial Issues, group managing director of NNPC, Kyari, said the joint committee was part of efforts to further deepen the robust history of collaboration that both organisations had enjoyed over the years.

He said NNPC was in complete sync with the activities of NEITI because it was the right of the over 200 million Nigerians who are the shareholders of the corporation to know everything about the operations of their company.^[17]

Stakeholders continue to commend the commitment and speed with which the NNPC boss has been carrying out his assignment.

According to the head of Nigeria's extractive industry watchdog NEITI, Waziri Adio, the decision of NNPC to make public its audited accounts on its website for the first time in its history is laudable. Just as the executive director of the global Extractive Industries Transparency International's (EITI), Mr. Mark Robinson, commended the corporation for setting a new standard of reporting.

Also, Publicity Secretary of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE), Mr. Lateef Amodu, said, in one year, Kyari has been able to stabilise the industry through robust policies that have helped stakeholders make informed investment decisions.^[18]

NNPC Limited is ranked seventh (7th position) on LinkedIn's 25 best companies to work in Nigeria in 2023.^[19]

• Official website