NNPC says JV partners’ oil assets sold to ‘incompetent’ operators

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, (NNPC) said on Tuesday that buyers of the divested assets of its Joint Venture partners have failed to make meaningful contributions to the development of the assets several years after they were bought.

The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, disclosed this at the ongoing 25th Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) forum in Abuja.

He said the Corporation has commenced engagements with investors across the West African sub-region to serve as off-takers for the country’s gas ahead of the completion of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano gas pipeline.

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Kyari expressed disappointment over the sale of the JV assets to the new partners, adding that if the NNPC had foreknowledge of the buyers’ incompetence, it would not have consented to the sale of the assets.

He said the NNPC had rolled out stringent conditions for the divestment of assets by its JV partners and cautioned its partners against proposing the divestment of their stake to firms who are incapable of improving the fortunes of the assets.

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