The group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, and president and chief executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, have expressed their readiness to collaborate in the business of in-country crude oil refining to close domestic products demand gap.
Both chief executives made the pledge yesterday when Aliko Dangote paid a courtesy visit to the NNPC GMD in Abuja.
Speaking on the matter, Kyari, said that the Corporation was not in contest for market share with the forthcoming Dangote Refinery but rather providing support to the promoters of the project to boost in-country refining capacity.
Stressing that as the chief enabler of the Nigerian economy, the NNPC had a duty to rally industry players like Dangote Group to achieve the long – held target of making Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products.
He assured that the same level of support would be provided to other promoters of refineries, noting that the ultimate goal was to enhance in-country production to the point of self-sufficiency and ultimately for export.
Dangote also said that the business approach of the Dangote Refinery was to see NNPC as a collaborator rather than a competitor, noting that the refinery would rely heavily on the Corporation’s invaluable knowledge of the refining business in Nigeria to achieve its central objective.
Dangote aligned his company with the federal government’s aspiration to ensure adequate in-country refining capacity, stating that upon completion the refinery would dedicate 53 per cent of its projected 650,000 barrels per day refining capacity to the production of petrol.
“The most important thing for us is to see how we can partner with NNPC, it is not to see how we can compete with NNPC. We would like NNPC to be part of us and we also want to be part of NNPC. I think that is the only way we can achieve a win-win situation,” he said.