Refineries Not Created to Reduce Petrol Price – NNPC Chairman Kyari Tells Senate

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) Mele Kyari has clarified that the primary goal of rehabilitating the nation’s refineries is not to reduce petrol prices.

VerseNews reports that the NNPP boss made the comment while appearing before a joint Senate committee.

Mr. Kyari’s statement comes in response to questioning by the committee, particularly regarding the potential impact of functional refineries on petrol prices. While acknowledging the possibility of a price decrease, he stressed that this was not the main objective.

Kyari further said the NNPC does not charge subsidies to the federation and, instead, has contributed ₦4.45 trillion directly to the federal account through various taxes, royalties, and dividends. According to him, ₦406 billion were paid as dividends to the Federal Government’s account since July 2023.

However, he acknowledged the lack of reliable data on national petrol consumption due to inadequate measuring instruments.

Kyari’s appearance before the Senate committee follows a 24-hour ultimatum issued earlier this week. The committee had expressed concerns regarding the NNPC’s alleged disregard for previous summons related to investigations into the over 11 trillion naira spent on refinery maintenance between 2010 and 2023.

Furthermore, the committee requested the NNPC to submit a list of all companies operating with Oil Mining Leases (OML) licenses in Nigeria, along with their respective daily production outputs.

The Senate Appropriation Committee was led by its chairman, Senator Adeola Olamilekan.