The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Wednesday, announced commencement of the unbundling of the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, PPMC.
By this development, the PPMC will, in a matter of weeks, function separately as storage, pipelines and products marketing companies.
Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, made this known during a tour of the Okrika Jetty and the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Limited.
He explained that the nation’s refineries would not be sold outrightly but run as a joint venture with credile and experienced companies.
His words: ”The PPMC would be split into a pipelines company that would focus primarily on the maintenance of the over five thousand kilometers pipelines of the Corporation’s storage company, that would maintain all the over 23 depots and a products marketing company that would market and sell petroleum products.”
He added that the ongoing phase-rehabilitation of all the state-owned refineries would be fastened so as to reduce importation of petroleum products.
Kachikwu added that to ensure safety of crude and petroleum products pipelines nationwide, Nigerian Airforce would be engaged to provide aerial survey of the pipelines.
Similarly, the Nigerian Army Engineering Corps would be engaged to fix and guard pipelines and the Nigerian Navy would provide marine surveillance for the network of pipelines.
