L-R: Mr. Patrick Daziba of NCDMB, Dr. Layi Fatona, Mrs. Izerene Adams, representative of NMDPRA, Mr. Ladi Jadesimi and Mr. Adegbite Falade at the unveiling of Aradel Holdings Plc in Lagos.
…Connecting legacy laid down by Aret Adams
…Aradel is the deliberate creation of the future that will translate the company into an energy giant
It was a glorious day for Niger Delta Exploration and Production Company (NDEP) Plc as it transited to Aradel Holdings Plc an occasion that was graced by the crème de la crème of the oil and gas operators in Nigeria. NDEP is located in the Niger Delta as the name suggests a divested field from Chevron Nigeria Limited.
One of the pioneer founders referred to by operators of the industry as father of marginal field development in Nigeria is Dr. Layi Fatona. Fatona worked in Shell for some years where he apparently got his experience after working for the multinational oil company. He was the former Managing Director of NDEP.
Giving his remarks at the unveiling and grand launching ceremony, he asserted, “I want to recognise a very strong person in the board of Niger Delta. A board that is very consistently strong, disciplined and to all the board members both old and new.”
“Without saying too much, everybody has heard about late Chief Aret Adams. If he was in the audience today, he would be the star.”
“It wasn’t about whether we knew what we were doing. It was about the commitment that we thought we wanted to give Nigeria. And that commitment was hinged on the young workforce that the company had. I give thanks to all the staff of Niger Delta that is transiting to Aradel.”
Fatona recalled when a prominent Nigerian visited the field of operations of Niger Delta after seeing the feat and achievements of the indigenous company, asked if expatriates are working there. He was startled hence, “we have had the benefit of incredibly totally Nigerian workforce.”
“I once remembered our mission to Bonny LNG which was to supply gas. The first question they asked was if the company is owned by the federal government of Nigeria. They wondered how an indigenous company will have the temerity to embark on such mission to Bonny LNG to supply gas.”
But today, the story is different as Niger Delta is the only non-JV gas supplier to Bonny LNG.
Fatona thanked Adegbite Falade, who is currently the Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company for keeping the vision with his team and members of staff. “A child of 30 is matured and after 30 life must continue.”
He said he was optimistic that the vision of Niger Delta is given into the hands of young executives that will manage the company while urging investors to keep faith in the company by investing.
After the transition from Niger Delta to Aradel Holdings Plc, Falade was extremely excited. “Today I welcome you to the unveiling of our new company symbolically representing the direction that we are embarking on and it is not a break from the direction we started some 31 years ago, but we are at a point of reflection, where we are having a speed to increase the momentum and taking it to the next level.”
Falade stated that the word Aradel is an acronym of the company.
The company is poised to accountability which stands for A internally and to its board. It is accountable to its shareholders, regulators and the community including all critical stakeholders.
The R stands on resilience and how the company has weathered many storms in cause of doing business which is also a promise to a brighter future.
Aradel is adaptable which stands for A and the company is able to adapt to reinvent itself in the midst of changing situation either on energy transition or macro-economic, it will continue to progress forward.
Aradel is a company that is keenly interested in bringing to the fore affordable energy solutions and considers as a critical part of energy decision and the reason why the company has decided consciously and deliberates to domesticate consumption of its resources while involving in refinery for energy access and domestication of hydrocarbon resources.
Continuing, the Aradel CEO said the D stands for diversity and it represents various ethnic groups across the country from south to north even in the workforce, it enshrined diversity by promoting gender equality.
The E stands for excellence which it continues to drive in the course of doing business which is reflected for sustainability, innovation and creativity.
The last on the list is letter L which shows the deliberate intention to continue to play leadership role that the indigenous company is known for.
According to Falade, “our name is not just to aspire to be what we ought to be in the future, it is also about where we’re coming from.”
The word Aradel is also divided into two parts which forms essentially where the company emanated. The ARA is pronounced, coined and created deliberately as a testament with refection and recognition of the founding fathers that brought the company to existence 31 years ago, Aret Adams, a former Group Management Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The second aspect DEL, speaks about the unflinching pride where the company commenced its journey in the Niger Delta. Falade stated thus: “each time when we call Aradel, we are connecting the legacy laid down by Aret Adams, the place where we started from which is the delta region and the future aspiration of the company.”
“As glorious as the past is, what is more important is the future. According to Edith Kermit Roosevelt, former wife of President of the United States who said the future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
“Today is the future that was dreamt 31 years ago, and today we start another dream that will become a reality 10 to 30 years in future.”
How can the future be recognised and projected, Falade took a quote from Abraham Lincoln that “the best way to predict the future is to create it and in Aradel, we are deliberately creating the future that will translate this company into an energy giant, not just in the country but our continent.”
In Aradel, the future that is seen is not by operating a marginal field. At present, the company produces about 13,000 barrels of crude oil. In future, it will produce multiples of what it has been producing.
The company pioneered local refinery by producing 1000 barrels of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) also known as diesel and has added 11000 barrels production. The future has begun with Aradel and it will soon be the first indigenous privately owned refinery to produce Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in its Ogbele refinery.
This will be expanded to significantly larger in capacity.
Aradel generates about 4.6 Megawatts (MW) of power which is part of its energy transition also making use of gas and renewables. In the near future, it targets within the next five years is to grow about 50 MW.
Being consistent with the future, Falade said Aradel has returned dividend payments to its shareholders with pledge that it will continue to sustain the tradition to those who are current investors and potential ones. The investors can get return in investment that will justify value of investments.
From 2024, Aradel will commence journey across multiple field operations as it graduates from marginal field to directly operating mining leases bigger than what it has presently not only within Nigeria. The cost of production and exploration from mining leases outside the shores of Nigeria. This is the future Aradel is creating and what every stakeholder expects.
According to Falade, “the dream of our founding fathers was that every Nigerian will have a stake in this business and by extension have a stake in the ownership of our industry. What future are we asking you to watch out for in the future where our shares will be listed and traded not just on the Nigeria Stock Exchange but on foreign exchange.”
Aradel vision will stretch beyond boundaries to reflect global giant that it aspires.
“The best way to predict the future is to predict create it. In Aradel, this is the future we are creating.”
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