The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mal. Mele Kyari has said that the already-transferred assets of the company total $59.8 billion, representing 80 percent of the total assets due to NNPC Limited.
Mal. Kyari said this on Wednesday during a live interview on Arise TV monitored by Swift Reporters.
It was recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, signed off on the transfer of assets from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to the NNPC Limited about two weeks ago.
The signing off by the President and the Minister of Finance effectively means that all such assets, interests, and liabilities of the Corporation have been transferred to NNPC Limited in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act.
On Tuesday, NNPC Limited officially transitioned into a commercial entity regulated in line with the provisions of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
Kyari said the current asset base to be transferred to NNPCL was being evaluated.
“The assets of the company in a manner that is determined by law in a process that is best practiced in the industry, we engage the best evaluating agencies that you can think of to arrive at the value of those assets and ultimately the federation, in its wisdom, by the provision of the PIA, has transferred assets currently worth $59.8 billion,” he said.
“This is the first tranche. This represents roughly 80% of the assets available to us. There is still work going on to make it clear and have numbers around 20 percent.
“It means that these assets are on a balance sheet, that you are accountable for them, and that you can put them into the market.” You can also use it as a basis for securing financing. So that is a very different situation today, and not only that. This also excludes the upstream assets.”
“We think that when the evaluation is completed, we will probably have access to another $80 to $90 billion worth of upstream assets, and the meaning of this is that NNPC,” he added.
“The meaning of this is that the NNPC will not be below 150 (currently) in the Fortune 500 companies, and I can tell you this upfront: Our target is that, by the sheer act of doing things right, we are getting into a business, delivering value, and investing appropriately, and within three to four years, we should be counting ourselves among the first 50 in the Fortune 500 companies.”
According to Kyari, the country is endowed with oil and gas deposits.
