The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari has vowed to sanction any of its staff operating a blending plant in Malta.
His decision was made known on Tuesday via his X page.
He was reacting to an allegation recently made by the CEO of Dangote Refinery, Aliko Dangote about employees of the country’s oil regulators frustrating supply of crude oil to domestic refineries due to their ownership or involvement with a blending plant in faraway Malta.
Dangote’s allegations
Recently, Dangote, faulted some staff and oil regulator stakeholders for opening a blending plant in Malta in bid to keep frustrating the local extraction and production of crude products.
A blending plant is facility which has no refining capability but is used to produced finished motor gasoline through blending oxygenates with motor gasoline, among others.
Dangote told the press and some lawmakers that the owners of the blending plant are fighting the country’s oil generation potential.
He said,
“Some of the terminals, some of the NNPC people and some traders have opened a blending plant somewhere off Malta.
“We all know these areas. We know what they are doing, “ he said.
Kyari’s rebuttal
Reacting to the development, Kyari denied owning a blending plant, except a local mini Agriculture venture.
He also denied knowing of any NNPC employee involved in such.
He stated,
“To clarify the allegations regarding blending plant, I do not own or operate any business directly or by proxy anywhere in the world with the exception of a local mini Agric venture.
“Neither am I aware of any employee of the NNPC, that owns or operates a blending plant in Malta or anywhere else in the world.”
He added that blending plant in Malta or any part of the world has no influence over NNPC’s business operations and strategic actions.
However, he vowed to ensure sanctions against any NNPC staff involved in it.
“For further assurance, our compliance sanction grid shall apply to any NNPC employee who is established to be involved in doing so if availed and I strongly recommend that such individuals be declared public and be made known to relevant government security agencies for necessary actions in view of the grave implications for national energy security, ” he concluded.
What you should know
Aliko Dangote met with the top executives of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC), to find lasting solutions to the challenges facing the oil sector in the country.
This was disclosed by the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri on Monday
There have been allegations and counter allegations between Dangote and oil regulators regarding the quality of diesel, and the supply of crude oil among others, but
But Lokpobiri assured that stakeholders met to address issues affecting the refinery.
Earlier, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) alleged that the Dangote Refinery was producing inferior products compared to imported ones.
Ahmed’s statement sparked a significant public backlash. Many people found his remarks unacceptable, arguing that they undermined a major local industry and did not reflect the true quality of the refinery’s products.
In response, Dangote invited regulators to test their products.
The company insisted that they are producing better quality products than most filling stations across Nigeria, confidently standing by the superior quality of their output.
The allegations of substandard oil products is being probed by the House of Representatives.
