The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Hon. Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere, has said that the tenure of Mele Kyari as head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) will be remembered for ushering in critical reforms in the oil and gas sector, including the company’s commercial transition, the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), removal of fuel subsidy, and revival of domestic refining.
In a statement issued on Monday following the recent leadership shake-up at the NNPCL—which saw the exit of Kyari and the appointment of Mr. Bashir Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer—Ugochinyere praised Kyari’s transformative leadership, noting that “he exited when the ovation was still high.”
“As obtained in any position both elected and appointed, there must come a time when the occupant must leave,” the lawmaker said. “For Kyari, he exited when the ovation was still high, having left indelible footprints in the sand of history in the oil and gas sector.”
Highlighting key milestones, Ugochinyere noted that under Kyari’s leadership, the NNPCL transitioned into a commercially driven enterprise that is now positioned to compete in the global oil market. He emphasized that Kyari’s contributions played a pivotal role in the passage and implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), a reform that had eluded Nigeria for decades.
“I commend Kyari’s efforts as under his watch, the Port Harcourt Refinery with two refining units capable of handling 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd) was resuscitated,” Ugochinyere stated.
He also noted similar progress at the Warri Refinery, which has a distillation capacity of 125,000 bpd, as well as integrated petrochemical units producing 13,000 metric tons of polypropylene and 18,000 metric tons of carbon black annually.
“Recall that on December 30, 2024, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd and President Bola Tinubu announced that the Warri Refinery had resumed operations after being inactive for several years. The refinery is now running, though not at its full capacity, marking a key step toward improving fuel production and supply in the country,” Ugochinyere said.
He also lauded the contributions of the Dangote Refinery—commissioned in May 2023—as part of Kyari’s broader efforts to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on fuel imports. The refinery, the world’s largest single-train facility, began producing petrol in September 2024 and has gradually ramped up production from 25 million liters per day to 35 million liters.
“All these became possible through the tireless efforts of Mele Kyari when he held sway as the Group Managing Director of NNPC and subsequently, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, birthed by the PIA,” Ugochinyere added.
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