By John Meze
After years of painstaking research and meticulous planning, NNPC Retail Limited, the Downstream Subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), in charge of retail sales and marketing of petroleum products, has commenced a promising entry into the lubricant market with the unveiling of a broad range of high performance engine oils to provide better options to customers across the country.
The package has on offer Nitro (Diamond, Gold, Super, 2T) and Nitro Super 40, all designed for petrol-power engines, while the diesel propelled engines have the Rhino (Rhino HD40 & Rhino X) engine oils.
The event which took place at the Amphitheatre of the NNPC Towers in Abuja was presided over by Mallam Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director of the Corporation, in the presence of highly elated crowd made up of management and staff of NNPC Retail Limited as well as dealers and representatives of the 380 NNPC Downstream subsidiary company’s outlets across Nigeria.
Unveiling the products, Mallam Kyari said the entry of NNPC into the lubricant market was to ensure that the corporation opened up new areas of revenue generation while ensuring stakeholders reaped bountifully from the participation of the corporation in the entire value chain of the Oil and Gas Industry.
The GMD said NNPC Retail Limited had a history of accuracy, saying when it sold a litre of product; the customers actually got a litre.
He stated that overtime, the company had built trust in customers, expressing the expectation that it would not only maintain the trust, but also carried it into the lubricant business to give Nigerians value for money.
He assured that the NNPC would continue to provide the needed support and encouragement to its Retail unit to keep up the required standards and fulfil its mandate and obligation to stakeholders.
Engineer Yemi Adetunji, Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, whose unit superintends the operations of NNPC Retail Limited, expressed confidence that the entry of the company into the engine oil market would provide refreshing options to customers. He informed that the new products have all the required ISO certification, noting that the company would take full advantage of its massive outreach across Nigeria to push the products to all corners of the country.
He said the coming of NNPC lubricants would bring prosperity to all stakeholders.
“Its prosperity for our partners, prosperity for NNPC Retail Limited, prosperity for NNPC and prosperity for all Nigerians who now have a product they can truly call their own,’’ he said.
In his remarks, Sir Billy Okoye, Managing Director of NNPC Retail Limited, said though the products had been in the offing for such a long period, the wait was worthwhile because NNPC Retail Limited took advantage of the period to consolidate research on the lubricant.
He informed that come February next year, the lubricants would be available in all the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, declaring that dealers and stakeholders have been fully mobilized in this regard.
Meanwhile as a part of the concerted efforts to further grow the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) business in the Country, Mallam Kyari, has said that the Final Investment Decision (FID) for NLNG Train 7 would be executed next month.
The NNPC GMD made this disclosure in Abuja while receiving the Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer, Total Group, Patrick Jean Pouyanné and other top management of the Group, a release by NNPC Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Mr. Samson Makoji, has said.
He stated that the corporation would continue to align its business processes with its partners in accordance with global best practices for the benefit of the investments and for the good of Nigerians who, he noted, remained the key shareholders of the National Oil Company.
“We see Total Exploration and Production as a total partner. Total is one of the few multinational oil companies in Nigeria that are fully integrated with their visible footprints from the Upstream to the Downstream Oil and Gas Sector,” Mallam Kyari averred.
He described Nigeria as the best investment destination in Africa with the largest growing economy and with a population of over 200million that made it the largest market for Oil and Gas products in Africa.
Mallam Kyari applauded President Muhammadu Buhari for creating an enabling investment environment for the Oil and Gas Industry and urged the Total Group and other International Oil and Gas companies to take advantage of the abundant conducive opportunities in the Petroleum Sector.
The NNPC helmsman assured the Total Group of the corporation’s unflinching partnership and implored them to bring to fruition all their ongoing investment portfolios for the benefit of the Joint Venture.
Earlier, the Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer, Total Group, Pouyanné, said Nigeria was very important to the Total Group, saying that the Egina FPSO was currently producing 200,000 barrels per day.
He reassured that the Total Group would continue to invest in more deep-water projects in Nigeria and described the NLNG project as a very important asset that his company was deeply committed to