Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, on Monday disclosed that the oil corporation will cease to exist within the next six months.
Kyari said the signed bill, now known as the Petroleum Industry Act, PIA, will ensure this new position.
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On Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the PIB into law in what was described as his determination to fulfil his constitutional duty.
The NNPC GMD, who revealed this in an interview on Arise TV said that the NNPC would become slimmer, more efficient, and operate effectively as a commercial national oil company.
He assured that plans are ongoing to transit assets and other resources to the newly established company within six months.
“The meaning of this is that this company will just be another privately-owned company in a sense, this company will pay taxes, this company will pay royalties, and this company will deliver dividends to its shareholders. This isn’t the situation today, because the corporation has no such obligation today,” he added.
“What this bill will do now is that in the very short term, within the framework of the petroleum industry act, within six months a new company will be incorporated. That means all liabilities and assets of this company will be transferred to the new company, not all of them.
“By the way, the bill is also very clear that some toxic assets of the corporation would no longer would be with the corporation, but the shareholders can decide to keep some of the assets and leave some within the corporation.
“The PIB did envisage that we’re going to have a market regulated petroleum market regime. And by the way, I’m sure you’re aware that only petroleum is regulated today. And every other petroleum product prices are determined by the market. And therefore the only one element that is not resolved today is petrol.”
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