The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, says the corporation has not sabotaged any local refinery.
There has been reports that the NNPCL has starved Dangote refinery crude supplies.
While addressing the Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating alleged economic sabotage in the country’s petroleum industry on Wednesday, Kyari also dismissed allegation that the NNPCL is responsible for the importation of substandard petroleum products into the country.
He said the relevant regulatory agencies will, by law, prohibit such substandard products.
The NNPC chief said the company has not breached any of the enabling laws guiding its dealings with its partners and should be exempted from any claims of economic sabotage.
“Refining business is a straightforward business. You must secure (a source for) your feedstock and you must find a market,” he said.
“This is basic and this determines what happens in any refinery anywhere in the world. That is the business of refining. We have done nothing to sabotage any domestic refinery.”
Speaking further, Kyari said there is enough infrastructure to produce two million barrels of crude per day.
However, he said crude oil theft, pipeline vandalism, and the lack of investment in the upstream are the major factors hindering the sector.
He said as a company owned by Nigerians, the NNPC has developed from a loss-making position to a profit-making entity.
