Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources
In ensuring curbing petroleum product diversion and effective distribution PMS,The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva has formerly launched the `Operation White’ project geared towards ensuring transparency and accountability of petroleum product supply and distribution in Nigeria.
Slyia, represented by the Executive Secretary of Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF), Mr Ahmed Boboi, said in Lagos on Friday that the essence was to entrenching energy security and deepening the drive for transparency in the downstream operations.
He said that the strategic initiative was aimed at deploying adequate measures in ensuring all molecules of regulated petroleum product imported by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) are well accounted for and utilized in-country.
According to him, `NNPC continues to record excellent performance in product supply and distribution to the nation – It is doing what it is supposed to do as supplier of last resort, but the reality is the nation bears a great cost in terms of absorbing the shocks of differences in cost.
“It is critical that all hands be put on deck to ensure that every molecule of product imported into this country is utilized within the borders of this nation for the benefit of the Nigerian populace. This is a national imperative and a core thrust of Mr President’s mandate for leadership of the oil and gas industry. Therefore, the task for us is to ensure that the petroleum products supply and distribution chain in Nigeria is completely devoid of illicit practices including oil theft, diversion and smuggling of petroleum products, which constitute economic sabotage and hemorrhage of the national revenue through high cost of under recovery,’’ he said.
Thus, the minister said: to do this certainly requires diligence, commitment, courage and robust partnership amongst various downstream stakeholders.
“There is also a dire need to instill an improved culture of transparency, accountability and efficiency in the industry, streamline our operations along best practices by championing and implementing strategic reforms at every layer of the supply and distribution chain. If we are able to plug the leakages, and tighten all loose ends, we are convinced that we can do even more with the little that we are getting at this moment of modest oil prices than we did even in the time of plenty. This administration is committed to placing the oil and gas sector on the trajectory of growth. It is my firm belief that all the initiatives contained in our 10 key priority areas will put the petroleum sector on the path of robust growth.”
He further expressed his optimism that the gains of the Operation White Project will reduce the inflated product consumption figure and ultimately reduce the subsidy wage bill.
The hosts of the NNPC’s Project White, Aiteo Energy resources, Apapa – Lagos, represented by its Deputy CEO, Mr Francis Peters in his welcome remarks enthused, “we are delighted to host this significant intervention of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC group, “Operation White”.
“As strategic infrastructure partners, the Aiteo Energy Resources Limited lauds this initiative aimed at deploying adequate measures in ensuring that all regulated petroleum products imported by NNPC are well accounted for and utilized in-country.
We will continue to be an industry benchmark for performance in product supply and distribution to Nigeria- further strengthening the NNPC’s vision of energy and petroleum products security and sustainability, especially throughout the festive season.” he said
Mallam Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of NNPC charged the team to deliver on the onerous national assignment of controlling leakages of petroleum products, especially petrol, adding that they have no option but to succeed.
Kyari was represented by the Chief Finance Officer of NNPC Mr Umar Ajiya said that ‘Operation White’ would monitor and track every molecule of petroleum product imported into the country and follow it through to the pump,
He said that the NNPC was poised to support the Federal Government in its quest to guaranteeing energy security for the country.
Kyari asserted that “The selection of ‘Operation White’ team was very thorough and people of great competence and high level of integrity were head-hunted for this national assignment. Today, we are good to go and we will see our transaction end-to-end as is the case in other countries.
We are poised to support the minister to ensure that energy security is guaranteed for our dear country so that our principal, President Muhammadu Buhari, would be proud of us,” Mallam Kyari added.
He encouraged the team members to deliver on the national assignment with a deepened sense of patriotism and excellence. He pledged that the project will monitor and track the entire movement of petroleum products and enshrine visible transparency across the value chain.
Earlier the Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Mr Bala Wunti, said adequate institutional and governance structure of the team’s operations has been put in place.
Wunti made it known that the members of the team were drawn from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) as well as the Department of State Security (DSS).
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