The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, H.E. Chief Timipre Sylva has formerly launched the Operation White Project aimed at entrenching energy security and deepening the drive for transparency.

In his inauguration speech, he charged the 89 members of the project team drawn from five Key Agencies, to work assiduously whilst embracing the highest level of accountability, to collectively succeed and deliver excellently.

Chief Sylva name-checked the leadership that has been consistently provided by the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari while noting that every organization is as strong as the quality of its leadership. He further expressed his optimism that the gains of the Operation White Project will reduce the inflated product consumption figure and ultimately reduce the subsidy wage bill.

In his response, Mallam Kyari encouraged the team members to deliver on the national assignment with a deepened sense of patriotism and excellence. He pledged that the project will monitor and track the entire movement of petroleum products and enshrine visible transparency across the value chain.

Chief Sylva was taken on a tour of Operation White’s Command and Control Centre by the Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company and Project Team Lead, Mr. Bala Wunti who enthused that competence, character and chemistry were key indices embraced in the selection of the team members.

Emike Ivowi who works as the Technical Assistant to the Managing Director of the Petroleum Products Marketing Company and serves as an Analyst in the Command and Control Centre, noted that the team and infrastructure emplaced, will effectively ensure elimination of all identified bleeding points that account for product losses.

The project membership is comprised of high quality individuals drawn from NNPC, Department of Petroleum Resources, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, Petroleum Equalisation Fund (Management) Board and the Department of State Security.