• Targets 70 more nationwide in six months
•Assures there will be no job losses
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) yesterday launched a technology-powered smart fuelling station at the headquarters of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) in Abuja, with plans to roll out between 50 and 70 similar facilities across the country within the next six months.
Executive Vice President, Downstream, NNPC, Mumuni Dagazau, who disclosed the expansion plan while speaking with journalists shortly after commissioning the facility, described the Abuja station as the first of several smart stations the company plans to establish.
This, he said, is part of the moves to transform its traditional filling stations into integrated energy and mobility hubs.
“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,” he said.
He said NNPC has about four or five similar stations planned for Abuja, while two others were being launched in Kano, adding that the company intended to significantly expand the model across the country.
“We’re 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,” Dagazau said.
The newly commissioned facility has a 180,000-litre capacity for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) and 45,000-litre capacity for Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), with 16 pumps for petrol and two for diesel.
It also has six electric vehicle charging points, an automated car wash, lubricant service bay and facilities for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), while plans are underway to introduce compressed natural gas (CNG) services and a CNG vehicle conversion centre.
The station is powered by a solar system with more than 200 kilowatt-hours capacity and is designed to operate 24 hours daily.
The NNPC EVP said the smart station was designed to give customers greater convenience by allowing them to dispense fuel themselves after making payment through an NNPC mobile application.
According to him, customers would be able to load funds into a digital wallet, generate a code and dispense the exact quantity of fuel purchased. He, however, said attendants would remain available to assist customers who were unable to operate the self-service system.
The NNPC executive also dismissed concerns that self-service fuelling could lead to job losses, arguing that the wider range of services offered by the smart stations would create additional employment opportunities.
“What NNPC does is create jobs. What this does is create jobs. 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’ll find in the filling stations,” he said.
He explained that personnel would be required to support the automation, electric vehicle charging facilities and other services provided at the energy hubs.
On the cost and charging time for electric vehicles, Dagazau said the facility uses fast chargers that could charge a vehicle from about 20 per cent to full capacity in approximately 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the vehicle.
He said the company’s modernisation programme would involve both upgrading existing stations and developing new facilities, stressing that the initiative was driven by changing customer expectations.
“We’re going to modernise our stations. 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.
Earlier, Managing Director of NNPC Retail Limited, Huub Stockman, said the downstream petroleum industry was changing rapidly following full deregulation and the commencement of operations at the Dangote refinery.
Stockman said customers now expected quality and quantity at the right price, faster service, digital payment options and additional services such as restaurants, convenience shops, coffee shops, banking, car wash facilities and alternative energy solutions.
He said NNPC Retail was committed to meeting those expectations and providing customers with more convenient and sustainable energy solutions.
In his remarks, Retail Operations Executive of NNPC Retail, Shettima Baba-Kukawa, said the smart station was the product of collaboration between NNPC and the Nigerian Immigration.
He said the facility was developed on land allocated by the Immigration Service as part of a partnership aimed at expanding NNPC’s footprint and improving energy security.
Baba-Kukawa said the station was designed not merely as a fuelling point but as a “lifestyle” and mobility hub, with plans for a quick-service restaurant, coffee shop, automated car wash and vehicle service bay.
He said the company had partnered with African Motor Works to deploy the six-point electric vehicle charging facility.
Representing the Executive Director, Commercial and Operations of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Rabiu Umar, Mustapha Lamorde commended NNPC for the initiative.
Lamorde said the integration of self-service fuel dispensing, electric vehicle charging, LPG dispensing, automated car wash and vehicle services demonstrated the evolution of Nigeria’s downstream petroleum industry through technology and efficiency.
He urged NNPC and its partners to sustain the initiative and expand the model across the country, while ensuring that innovation was matched with safety and environmental responsibility.
Also speaking, Deputy Comptroller General, Finance and Accounts, NIS, Saidu Daura, who represented the Comptroller General, Kemi Nandap, congratulated NNPC on the commissioning.
Daura said the integration of electric vehicle charging with conventional fuelling infrastructure aligned with global trends in energy transition, climate action and smart mobility.
He said the project demonstrated the potential of collaboration between government institutions and the private sector to promote investment, employment, skills transfer and sustainable development.