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AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

Laurent Vivier, TotalEnergies’ senior vice pres- oil while contributing to carbon reduction pro-
ident for exploration and production, Middle grammes to minimise our carbon footprint.”
East and North Africa, described the PSC exten- Sonatrach has issued its own confirmation
sion agreement as a victory for his company on of TotalEnergies’ plans. On July 19, the NOC’s
multiple fronts. CEO Tewfik Hakkar told reporters in Algiers
“This new contract [for the] Berkine asset, that his company had struck a deal worth $4bn
under [Algeria’s] new Hydrocarbon Law, marks with TotalEnergies, Occidental and Eni on the
a new milestone in the strategic partnership with Berkine development project. The partners
Sonatrach,” he remarked. “This project is in line hope to extract 1bn barrels of oil equivalent from
with the company’s strategy to develop low-cost their fields, he said. ™

Nigeria launches NNPC Ltd

as a new commercial entity

NIGERIA NIGERIAN President Muhammadu Buhari led oil company with over 200mn shareholders with
a ceremony marking the launch of the country’s integrity and excellence,” he declared.
new state oil and gas concern, which will be According to Nigerian press reports, the
known as Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd ceremony served to celebrate a process that has
(NNPC Ltd), in Abuja on July 19. already been completed. NNPC was actually
The new entity will succeed Nigerian incorporated in September 2021, a few weeks
National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), which after Buhari signed the Petroleum Industry Act
functioned effectively as an extension of the (PIA) into law, and floated with an initial capi-
Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), tal of NGN200bn ($481.46mn). It did so in line
itself a division of the federal Ministry of Petro- with specific provisions of the PIA, which man-
leum Resources. NNPC Ltd will take the form of dated NNPC’s transformation from a state-con-
a corporation and will operate with a significant trolled institution with regulatory authority into
degree of independence from the government. a commercial firm. The incorporation was then
It will not have any direct access to budget funds followed by the establishment of NNPC Ltd as a
or control over the allotment of oil and gas reve- new business entity on July 1, 2022.
nues, and it will not be involved in the handling Mele Kyari, NNPC Ltd’s group CEO, said he
of the subsidy that the Nigerian government expected the establishment of the new company
pays for domestic gasoline prices. to help ensure Nigeria’s domestic energy secu-
Buhari acknowledged the differences rity – that is, its ability to cover local demand for
between NNPC Ltd and its predecessor, not- petroleum products. The company will achieve
ing, for example, that the new company would this goal partly by carrying out a plan to expand
be regulated by the provisions of Nigeria’s the number of filling stations in its retail division
Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA). from 547 to more than 1,500 over the next six
“NNPC Ltd now will operate as a commercial months, he said.

New company, new logo (Photo: Twitter/@nnpclimited)

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 29 20•July•2022