The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has unveiled plans to set up a subsidiary to provide refueling services to ships and other ocean-going vessels.
The plan was disclosed on Wednesday in a statement by the corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in which he quoted the Group General Manager, NNPC Shipping, Mrs. Aisha Katagum, as making the disclosure in an interview published in the August edition of NNPC News, the corporation’s in-house journal.
Katagun , in the interview titled ‘Why We Prefer Free on-Board Rule for Shipping Oil – Katagum’, explained that the NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD) was also very keen on the proposed project and had therefore directed the Corporate Planning & Strategy (CP&S) Division to come up with a business model to see how it could operate.
According to her, the bunkering subsidiary was most likely going to be an incorporated company like Nidas, a subsidiary under NNPC Shippping, adding that the proposed company would likely be domiciled in the NNPC Shipping Division too.
Expatiating on the prospect of the proposed company, the GGM (Shipping) expressed optimism that the subsidiary entity would be a big business because the corporation have so many vessels that come into the West African Coast, adding that this year alone, over 120 vessels have brought imports for the state-owned oil corporation.
Other downstream subsidiaries of the NNPC Shipping Division are the Nikorma and Marine Logistics.
While Nikorma engages in shipping and transportation of energy products, Marine Logistics provides logistics services to the crude and petroleum products and gas sub-sector. Its mandate also includes effecting demurrage reduction and ensuring safe and efficient coastal distribution of petroleum products.
