The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) says Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) will serve as a catalyst to boost the profit making drive of the company.
Daily Trust reports that the transformation of the NNPC into a commercial entity means it will operate wholly for profit making.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday at a sensitisation workshop for the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) which had the theme: “Understanding the NNPC Limited Post-PIA”, the Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Garba Deen Muhammad, said the NNPC had declared losses for several years which had affected the economy.
He said, “NNPC is about 45 years old now, and all the while we have been operating at a loss until it climaxed to N800bn in the year 2019.
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“However, as we began to introduce policies, we saw a change in 2020 as we declared N287bn profit which later jumped to N647bn in 2021, and now that we are a commercial entity due to the PIA, we expect our profit to be higher when we declare our financial statements for 2022.”
Muhammad added that the company would soon enlist in the stock market for Nigerians to buy shares, noting that the workshop became imperative for Nigerian students to have a detailed idea of the PIA.
Also, in her presentation, Chief Strategist and Sustainability Officer at NNPCL, Eyesan Oritsemeyiwa, said the PIA stipulated that by 2024 the company had to make profit and give dividends to stakeholders.
Represented by Vincent Ogbu, she added that the commission had introduced technology to adapt to the rapid transformation in the oil and gas sector.