Shake-up in NNPC as refineries MDs, others redeployed
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC yesterday announced a major restructuring of the Corporation with the appointments and deployments of top executives across the value chain of its operations.
Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, told the staff that the new appointments would not only help to position the Corporation for the challenges ahead but would help fill the gaps created due to statutory retirements of staff. A total of 55 top management staff were affected in the exercise.
Under the new arrangement, Roland Ewubare, formerly MD of the Integrated Data Services Limited, IDSL moves to the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, NAPIMS as the new Group General Manager while Diepriye Tariah, former GGM and Senior Technical Assistant to the NNPC GMD takes over from Ewubare as MD of IDSL.
Malami Shehu, Executive Director Operations, of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, KRPC, was appointed Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, PHRC while Adewale Ladenegan, former MD of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, WRPC was moved to KRPC to assume duty as MD.
In the same vein, Muhammed Abah, until recently, the Executive Director Operations of WRPC succeeds Ladenegan as MD of Warri Refinery.
With the retirement of Alh. Farouk Ahmed as the MD of the Nigerian Products Marketing Company, (NPMC), Umar Ajiya, former GGM in charge of Corporate Planning and Strategy, (CP&S) now assumes duty as MD of NPMC while Bala Wunti, former, General Manager, Downstream, GMD’s Office takes charge as GGM CP&S.
The new structure also would facilitate new offices in major oil trading centres across the world.
The corporation has unveiled plans to go as far as Mexico, Brazil and Norway to bid for oil term contracts as part of its vision to be an international oil player.
There is no publicly available data of where NNPC has bid and won such contract outside Nigeria but the corporation through its oil trading subsidiary, NNPC Trading Limited, has launched an ambitious plan to expand beyond the shores of Nigeria.
“We are currently negotiating with PARTAMINA, Indonesia state-oil Company for the supply of Nigeria crude oil grades,” Managing Director, NNPC Trading Limited announced in an interview in the corporation’s quarterly magazine.
NNPC Trading Limited, the oil export and import arm of NNPC, has also opened talks with Congo Republic’s SERAK Refinery for a contract to feed crude to the refinery which has just been expanded by 500,000 barrels.
Waya said the plan to establish new offices across the world has received the full support of the current administration and NNPC management.
Before now, NNPC had four trading companies. Three of them Hyson/ Carlson, Nigermed and NAK Oil were jointly owned with trading houses Vitol, BP and Trafigura while Duke Oil was 100 per cent owned by the corporation.
“We have started with the winding up process of Nigermed and have reached 95 per cent,” Waya said, adding “We have also commenced the same process with NAK Oil but right now we are still at the preliminary stages.”