It is also to be re-named the Nigerian National Petroleum Limited (NNPC Ltd) against the earlier proposal of Nigerian Oil Company (NACON) following the expressed desire of the NNPC management to retain its already well established identity.

These facts were made known yesterday in Abuja by the Chairperson, Legal and Regulatory Sub –committee of ODIC, Prof. Yinka Omorogbe while delivering a paper at an interactive workshop with Energy Correspondents organized by the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

The recommendation is part of the OGIC report which formed the basis of a proposed Bill now being prepared by the Federal Ministry of Justice intended to give legal backing to the reforms being initiated by OGIC for proper implementation.

She said the NNPC would initially be wholly government-owned but would later divest its interest in the company and throw it open to the public, adding that the idea of the NNPC becoming an independent liability company was to enable it to concentrate on its principal commercial function instead of the number of roles that it is presently saddled with.

 
Other proposals put forward by the OGIC according to Prof. Omorogbe include the creation of National Petroleum Directorate to replace the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the replacement of the Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR) with the Nigerian Petroleum Directorate and the replacement of the PPPRA with the Petroleum Products Regulatory Agency.
 
Other new institutions proposed under the reform are the National Petroleum Asset Management Agency, the National Petroleum Research Centre and National Frontier Exploration Services, which would all be headed by Directors General.
 
Also speaking on “The National Oil and Gas Policy and the Imperatives of Reforms in the Nigerian Oil Industry,” the Secretary of OGIC, Dr. Bello Gusau blamed the problems of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry on its complete dominance by government.
 
According to him, “the crux of the problem of the industry in my opinion is that the Nigerian state intervened profoundly into the industry without building the required capacity in policy making, regulation and commercial activities in such a highly complex industry.
 
“Ineffective and inefficient state control of all the major processes of the industry has stunted its growth and development. A good example is the fact that while all its peer are gradually transforming into International National Oil Companies (INOCs) with extensive operations abroad, our national oil company is still grappling with funding the few resources and facilities available to it at home.   
 
“The end result of all the above is that the scope of change in the oil and gas industry over the years, both globally and in the domestic sphere, called into question the adequacy of the policy, regulatory, operational, fiscal and structural frameworks that govern the country’s oil industry,” he said. 

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