After years of painstaking research and meticulous planning, NNPC Retail Limited, the Downstream Subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation in charge of retail sales and marketing of petroleum products, Thursday in Abuja, commenced a promising entry into the lubricant market with the unveiling of a broad range of high performance engine oils to provide better options to customers across the country.

The package has on offer Nitro (Diamond, Gold, Super, 2T) and Nitro Super 40, all designed for petrol-power engines, while the diesel propelled engines have the Rhino (Rhino HD40 & Rhino X) engine oils.

The event which took place at the Amphitheatre of the NNPC Towers in Abuja was presided over by Mallam Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director of the Corporation, in the presence of highly elated crowd made up of management and staff of NNPC Retail Limited as well as dealers and representatives of the 380 NNPC Downstream subsidiary company’s outlets across Nigeria.

Unveiling the products, Mallam Kyari said the entry of NNPC into the lubricant market was to ensure that the corporation opened up new areas of revenue generation while ensuring stakeholders reaped bountifully from the participation of the corporation in the entire value chain of the Oil and Gas Industry.

The GMD said NNPC Retail Limited had a history of accuracy, saying when it sold a litre of product, the customers actually got a litre.

He stated that over time, the company had built trust in customers, expressing the expectation that it would not only maintain the trust, but also carried it into the lubricant business to give Nigerians value for money.

He assured that the NNPC would continue to provide the needed support and encouragement to its Retail unit to keep up the required standards and fulfil its mandate and obligation to stakeholders.

Engr. Yemi Adetunji, Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, whose unit superintends the operations of NNPC Retail Limited, expressed confidence that the entry of the company into the engine oil market would provide refreshing options to customers. He informed that the new products have all the required ISO certification, noting that the company would take full advantage of its massive outreach across Nigeria to push the products to all corners of the country.

He said the coming of NNPC lubricants would bring prosperity to all stakeholders.

“Its prosperity for our partners, prosperity for NNPC Retail Limited, prosperity for NNPC and prosperity for all Nigerians who now have a product they can truly call their own,’’ he said.

In his remarks, Sir. Billy Okoye, Managing Director of NNPC Retail Limited, said though the products had been in the offing for such a long period, the wait was worthwhile because NNPC Retail Limited took advantage of the period to consolidate research on the lubricant.

He informed that come February next year, the lubricants would be available in all the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria, declaring that dealers and stakeholders have been fully mobilized in this regard.