To augment the Federal Government’s dwindling oil revenue, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has sought the approval of the National Assembly to explore alternative sources of funding, especially for its capital projects.

The corporation equally pledged to collaborate with the law makers to ensure efficiency and transformation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu unfolded these plans when he received the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Downstream at the NNPC Towers in Abuja during its oversight visit to the Corporation.

Kachikwu noted that in the face of dwindling global crude oil prices,it was imperative for members of the National Assembly to allow the NNPC solicit funds from private local and international investors to execute its capital projects.

The Minister hinted that the NNPC has complied with the Federal Government’s directive on the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which according to him promotes probity and accountability in the day-to-day operations of the Corporation.

He informed that some of the subsidiaries of the NNPC now are being unbundled to guarantee energy efficiency and security, stressing that the Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) is also being restructured into a pipelines, products marketing and a storage companies.

Kachikwu said that the NNPC was going into joint venture partnership with state governments and private companies to expand its retail outlets across the country to meet national energy emergency needs.

He urged the members of the National Assembly to enact legislations that support the growth and development of the petroleum sector to make the industry function efficiently.

Earlier, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Downstream, Joseph Akinlaja, who was accompanied on the visit by members of the Committee assured the Minister of the preparedness of the National Assembly to support the Federal Government in carrying out its fundamental restructuring of the Oil and Gas industry for the benefit of Nigerians.

•Excerpted from a Daily Sun report.