MOMAN, IPMAN commend Buhari for appointing Kyari as NNPC GMD

Oil marketers on Friday commended President Muhammadu Buhari for appointing Mr Mele Kyari as the new Group Managing Director(GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The marketers under the aegis of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) and Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), gave the commendation  in Lagos.

Kyari, who is the 19th GMD of NNPC, was appointed on June 20, to take over from Dr Maikanti Baru on July 7, after retiring at the age of 60.

Mr Adetunji Oyebanji, Chairman of MOMAN, urged Kyari to foster industrial peace in the industry and focus on refining directly or through collaboration with private entities.

He appealed to Kyari to push for the passage of the Petroleum Industry and Governance Bill (PIGB) so that the industry would be on a sound footing.

Oyebanji urged the new GMD to support the downstream which is under severe duress, saying that this could be attested to by many divestments and foreclosures by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) (poor margins, HSEQ, shrinking private participation).

“We also advise the newly-appointed GMD to build on the efforts and collaboration by the downstream as witnessed late last year when another round of scarcity was avoided.

“We also advise him to put NNPC on an even more commercial footing.

“We congratulate and welcome him to the new job. We wish him a successful tenure, God’s guidance based on his vast experience in the industry, over 27 years.

“The little I know of him suggests he is a very calm, deep, intelligent and cerebral person. We urge him to have good relationship with the unions,’’ he said.

Oyebanji, the Chairman, Downstream Group, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), said Kyari’s excellent international connections following his tenure at OPEC while representing Nigeria, was also a boost.

“We look forward to him to further stabilising the Upstream sector, getting competitive terms in place to ensure investment continues to flow into the sector.

He commended Baru for his doggedness, total commitment and dedication in fostering and ensuring industry best practice in the oil and gas sector, saying that Baru had good collaboration with the downstream operators.

Oyebanji said that the outgoing GMD had also done remarkably well in ensuring that backlog of cash calls was addressed and also done well in ensuring effective upgrading of terminal facilities.

Also speaking, Mr Chinedu Okoronkwo, National President of IPMAN, urged the new GMD and his management team to build on the structure of the NNPC to make it competitive, globally; and give targets to all subsidiaries.

Okoronkwo advised Kyari to put in place performance benchmarks and fix all refineries to ensure that they work at optimal level, “even if it means using expatriates in the interim’’.

He, however, lauded the efforts of President Buhari in selecting an industry professional that can effectively institute the right reform urgently needed in the corporation.

Okoronkwo commended the wide contributions of the outgoing GMD and his team toward improving and stabilising the oil and gas sector.

According to him, the new GMD has the task of revamping the industry and repositioning the corporation to meet international standard.

He was optimistic that Kyari would bring his vast experience acquired over the years in both private and public sectors of the oil industry to bear on this new assignment as GMD.

He, however, urged the new GMD to prove his competency by justifying the confidence reposed in him.

Kyari, who hails from Borno, bagged a Bachelor of Science in Geology and Earth Science from the University of Maiduguri in 1987.

He was a former Nigeria’s Representative at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and led the OPEC’s Economic Commission Board, which was in charge of reviewing the global oil markets.

Prior to his appointment at the OPEC, Kyari was the Group General Manager, Crude Oil Division, NNPC.

He began his career at the Nigerian Geological Survey Society as a Field Geologist from 1988 to 1991 before he became a Seismic Data Geophysicist at Integrated Data Services Ltd. (IDSL), a subsidiary of the NNPC.

In 1998, he was in National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS) and then became the Abuja Operations Manager of the same organisation.

He became the Head of the Production Contracts Department between 2007 and 2009.

In 2016, he was the Supervisor of Production Sharing Contract for the NNPC