The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC Limited, Malam Mele Kyari, was on Friday honoured with the Energy Times’ GCEO of the Year Award in recognition of his commitment to accountability, transparency, and performance excellence.
Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Company, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, received the award on behalf of the NNPC boss during a ceremony held at Eko Hotel & Suites in Lagos.
According to the Governing Council of Energy Times Award Committee, Kyari’s hardwork has played a significant role in the company’s success and has contributed significantly to the growth of the energy sector in Nigeria.
Speaking at the occasion, Kyari said that NNPC Limited, which has been on transition since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act, (PIA) is championing the push to transform Nigeria into a gas-powered nation in keeping with its enormous natural endowment, amounting to over 209 trillion cubic feet proven natural gas reserves.
“We are building gas infrastructure such as the OB-3 Gas Pipeline, AKK Gas Pipeline to deepen the use of gas in the domestic market, while we are also promoting the West Africa Gas Pipeline and the Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline, as well as the Train 7 of the NLNG and number of Floating LNG Projects to deliver gas the global market,” he said.
The GCEO further noted that the NNPC Ltd is also aggressively expanding its portfolio in the power sector to make the company a truly rounded energy company.
According to him, “apart from our stakes in a number of Independent Power Plants such as Afam VI, Okpai Phases 1 and 2 with a combined installed capacity of 1,420MW, there have plans to build three new power plants in the AKK Pipeline corridor Abuja, Kaduna, and Kano.”
Kyari added that “the ground-breaking ceremony of the 1,350MW wholly owned Gwagwalada Power Plant was performed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in August last year.”
While dedicating the award to all NNPC staff, he thanked the Energy Times’ editorial board for finding him worthy of the recognition, adding that it would spur him to work harder towards achieving more for both NNPC Limited and the Nigerian oil and gas industry at large.