Energy
NNPC Ltd Moots 70 Smart Stations
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) would be deploying between 50 and 70 smart, self-service filling stations across the country within the next six months.
The Executive Vice President, Downstream, NNPC Limited, Mumuni Dagazau, made the disclosure on Thursday in Abuja while speaking at the commissioning of a technology-driven service station with an electric vehicle charging facility.
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The initiative, he added, is part of a broader plan to transform its conventional retail outlets into modern energy and mobility hubs offering petrol, electric vehicle charging, liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas and other services.
It was gathered that a model of the mega station is located along Bill Clinton Drive, Airport Road, Abuja.
Dagazau noted that the newly commissioned station was the first of several smart outlets to be introduced nationwide, adding that the concept was aimed at moving beyond traditional petrol retailing to provide customers with multiple energy and mobility services at a single location.
He said, “This is the first of many smart stations that we are going to have around the country. What the whole concept is, we are trying to turn from a filling station to an energy hub, and we are rolling out a lot of stations. I think even in Abuja, for this type of station, we have about four or five. We have another two that we’re launching out in Kano. This sort of smart stations that we’re doing.
“We are hoping to roll out a significant number, probably about 50 to 70 of these types of stations within the next six months. So this is what you’ll be seeing going forward from NNPC.
“So what you see here is that we are using all sorts of energy available to us, including EV, electric energy. We are going to be using gas; we are going to be using petrol. So it’s a centre where you can come, and we are going to be calling it our energy hub.”
The new model will allow customers to dispense petrol themselves, including at night, through a digital payment system, although attendants will remain at the stations to assist customers.
Dagazau dismissed concerns that the introduction of self-service pumps would result in job losses, arguing that the expanded services would require more workers to operate and support the technology.
“Well, you saw all of the pumps have attendants. So I really don’t know what they’re talking about when it comes to jobs. What NNPC does is create jobs. What this does is create a job.
“You have an energy hub today. If you look at the average filling station and you look at the energy hub, you’ll find more people in the energy hub than you would find in the filling stations, right? So what we are doing is creating jobs for that. Somebody has to support the integration.
“Somebody has to support the automation. The EVs, we have to be here to support people. So nothing really changes for us. What we’re doing is just what the delivery to the customer is. The guarantee, the comfort of the customer, that’s really what we’re after. That’s what the smart delivery is all about.”
On his part, the Executive Director, Retail Operations and Mobility, NNPC Limited, Shettima Baba-Kukawa, said the Abuja station had a storage capacity of 180,000 litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and 45,000 litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO).
The facility has 16 PMS pumps, two AGO pumps and six electric vehicle charging points installed in partnership with African Motor Works. It is powered entirely by solar energy through a system with a capacity of more than 200 kilowatts.
Baba-Kukawa said the outlet would also feature a quick-service restaurant, coffee shop, automated car wash, modern service bay and LPG dispensing facilities, while CNG and a vehicle conversion centre were also planned.
He said, “The station is going to run 24 hours. And it is fully self-service. So for customers who want to trust themselves and dispense themselves, they can actually do that. Transactions are done on their phone app and concluded by dispensing the exact amount of fuel they purchased into their tanks.”
Despite the digital system, he said customers unable to use the application would not be excluded, as staff would be available to assist them.
Dagazau also disclosed that the NNPC Ltd had begun plans to modernise its existing stations, stressing that the company was responding to changing customer expectations.
He said, “We’re going to modernise our station. That’s the word that we’re going to say.
“You don’t want to be going into the same station every day, every day, every day. You are demanding, so our modernisation is a demand from what the customer wants. The customer deserves a better quality of service, and we are delivering that quality of service.”
He said the company hoped that most of its stations would eventually adopt the new model, although the pace would depend on customer demand and the investment required.
Similarly, the Managing Director, NNPC Retail, Huub Stokman, said the transformation was necessary as the downstream petroleum market evolved following deregulation and the commencement of operations at the Dangote Refinery.
He said consumers were increasingly demanding quality products, competitive prices, faster services, digital payments and alternative energy options such as EV charging and CNG.
“Above all, especially the younger generation, they want us to deliver it sustainably, hence the fact that you also see that this station is completely solar-powered,” Stokman said.
In a goodwill message at the commissioning, the Comptroller-General, Nigeria Immigration Service, KN Nandap, commended the NNPC Ltd for combining conventional fuel retailing with electric vehicle charging and other modern services.
Nandap said the facility reflected Nigeria’s growing adoption of technology, cleaner energy and smart mobility, adding that such investments could create opportunities for employment, skills development and industrial growth.
The development comes as Nigeria’s downstream sector undergoes significant changes, with deregulation, increased domestic refining capacity and the emergence of alternative fuels reshaping how petroleum products are sold and consumed.
The NNPC Ltd said its smart-station programme was intended to position its retail network for the changing market by combining conventional fuel sales with cleaner energy, digital services and other consumer-focused offerings.
The appetite for improving access to capital for indigenous oil and gas contractors, strengthening the capacity of Nigerian businesses to execute critical energy projects and contribute to the country’s production ambitions, has seen the Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited (‘Renaissance’) go into a strategic financing partnership with Sterling Bank Limited.
The partnership, formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), brings Sterling Bank into the renewed Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme (RVFS), a structured financing programme designed to address one of the longstanding challenges confronting indigenous service providers in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry: access to timely and affordable funding for contract execution.
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The expanded programme brings together 13 financial institutions with combined financing commitments of $4.1 billion and ₦435 billion, creating a substantial pool of capital to support eligible contractors delivering projects for Renaissance, operator of the former Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) joint venture assets.
Speaking on its participation, Dele Faseemo, Group Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking at Sterling Bank, described the partnership as an important opportunity to connect financial capacity with productive enterprise in one of Nigeria’s most strategically important sectors.
“At Sterling Bank, we believe financing should enable capable businesses to deliver, grow and compete. Our participation in the Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme reflects that conviction. By providing structured funding to qualified contractors, we are supporting the businesses that keep the energy value chain moving, strengthening Nigerian content participation and contributing to the broader objective of increasing the country’s productive capacity,” Faseemo said.
For many indigenous contractors, securing a major contract represents only the first step towards business growth. The ability to mobilise equipment, procure materials, retain skilled personnel and meet demanding project timelines often depends on access to adequate working capital. Financing constraints can therefore limit the capacity of otherwise qualified businesses to execute contracts, scale their operations and participate more meaningfully in the energy value chain.
Through the RVFS, participating financial institutions will provide structured financing to eligible contractors against confirmed contracts awarded by Renaissance, subject to applicable credit assessment and approval processes. The arrangement is intended to ease funding pressures, improve project execution and strengthen the financial capacity of indigenous service providers.
Tony Attah, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Africa Energy Company Limited, highlighted the importance of the financing arrangement to the company’s growth ambitions.
“What we’ve been able to achieve as Renaissance is to go into that partnership with these incredible 13 banks who have come up to support this vendor scheme at over $4 billion and over ₦435 billion funds available for the vendors to be able to support us in our growth agenda,” Attah said.
He further emphasised the financial advantage the scheme offers participating contractors, noting that, “The interest rate that the banks are offering to the contractors is very competitive, and it is certainly better than the vendors going out to the respective banks on their own.”
The Renaissance Vendor Financing Scheme builds on a contractor financing programme established in 2010, which has evolved over the years to support local service providers executing projects across the oil and gas value chain. Its latest expansion comes as Renaissance pursues an ambitious growth strategy, including its aspiration to achieve production of one million barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2030.
Delivering on this ambition will require sustained investment not only in upstream production assets but also in the network of engineering firms, equipment suppliers, logistics providers, technical specialists and other indigenous businesses whose services are essential to operational performance.
With an established presence in corporate banking and energy sector financing, Sterling Bank continues to support businesses operating across critical segments of the Nigerian economy through tailored financial solutions, strategic partnerships and sector-specific expertise.
The collaboration reinforces the Bank’s commitment to supporting indigenous enterprise development, strengthening local capacity and financing productive economic activity, while contributing to efforts to improve Nigeria’s energy security and long-term industrial competitiveness.
The Niger Delta Youths are primed to assume national responsibilities in critical areas of the economy by protecting vital oil and gas assets in the region.
The United Niger Delta Congress (UNDC) gave the assurance at a media briefing in Abuja, over the weekend, adding that the youths of Niger Delta were ready to work with the federal government in this regard.
The group maintained that youths in the region have shown that such responsibilities, including the security of pipelines, can be entrusted to them.
Speaking at the news conference, Niger Delta Youth activist, Mallam Julius Obi, said the Niger Delta is safer while the nation’s crude is flowing based on the fact that youths in the region are doing the job.
He said that being a youth should not be a disqualification from strategic national assignments but when matched with preparation and character, a national asset.
“We are calling on the federal government to note that Nigeria is full of young men and women who are prepared, disciplined and ready to carry out national responsibilities.
“We urge the federal government to keep opening the doors of strategic national service to young Nigerians who have earned trust the only way it can be earned, by delivery,” Obi said.
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The group commended President Bola Tinubu for sustaining the security reforms in the oil and gas industry and the the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, for coordinating the protection of the nation’s pipelines, and the management of NNPCL for providing the enabling environment.
Joseph Ambakederimo, convener of the South-South Reawakening Group, has questioned the accountability of Nigeria’s crude oil forward sales, demanding clarification on the volume of crude lifted, outstanding balances and the use of upfront payments.
Speaking during an interview on Arise TV on Sunday, Ambakederimo expressed concern over the monitoring of crude oil transactions, questioning who was responsible for tracking deliveries and providing feedback on the arrangements.
“We don’t even know who is monitoring and giving us the feedback of the barrels of crude that have been lifted on forward sales basis,” he said.
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He challenged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to provide details of the transactions, including the quantity of crude already lifted, the outstanding balance and whether the agreed deliveries had been completed.
“Today, can we get this from NNPC? How much have they lifted? What is the balance remaining? Have they been completed?” he asked.
Ambakederimo also questioned how the money collected upfront under the arrangements had been spent, demanding an explanation of its use.
“That money that was collected upfront, what was the use of the money? Can you justify it?” he asked.
He argued that Nigeria should make better use of its natural resources to accelerate infrastructure development and improve living conditions.
Citing land reclamation projects in the United Arab Emirates, Ambakederimo said Nigeria could explore similar opportunities to create additional land for residential and other developments.
He recalled seeing a signpost while travelling from Dubai to Abu Dhabi describing a project to reclaim land from the sea, using the example to highlight the development possibilities he believes Nigeria could explore.
The South-South Reawakening Group convener also argued that Nigeria could reclaim land in suitable areas, provided environmental concerns were properly managed.
He called for the country to translate its natural resource wealth into infrastructure and improved living conditions, stressing the need for greater accountability in crude oil transactions.
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