NNPCL will deploy 70 self-service stations nationwide in 6 months

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Thursday announced plans to deploy between 50 and 70 smart self-service filling stations across the country within the next six months.

The Abuja model is located along Bill Clinton Drive, Airport Road, Abuja.

The initiative, according to the company, is part of a broader plan to transform conventional retail outlets into modern energy and mobility hubs offering gasoline, electric vehicle charging, liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas and other services.

The Executive Vice President (Downstream) NNPC Limited, Mumuni Dagazau, stated this in Abuja at the commissioning of a technologically advanced service station with an electric vehicle charging facility.

According to him, the newly commissioned station was the first of several smart outlets to be introduced nationwide.

The concept, he said, aimed to go beyond traditional petrol retailing to provide customers with multiple energy and mobility services in one place.

“This is the first of many smart stations that we will have across the country. The general concept is that we are trying to transform ourselves from a fuel station to an energy hub and we are launching many stations. I think even in Abuja, for this type of stations, we have about four or five. We have two more that we are launching in Kano. These type of smart stations we are building.

“We hope to deploy a significant number, probably 50 to 70 of these types of stations within the next six months. So this is what you will see in the future from NNPC.

“So what you see here is that we are using all types of energy available to us, including electric vehicles, electric power. We will use gas; we will use gasoline. So it’s a center where you can come, and we’ll call it our energy hub,” Dagazau said.

By design, the new model will allow customers to independently carry out petrol distribution, even at night, through a digital payment system, while employees will remain at the stations to assist customers.

Fearing that the initiative could lead to job losses, Dagazau argued that, on the contrary, expanding services would require more workers to manage and support the technology.

He said, “Well, you’ve seen that all the pumps have attendants. So I don’t really know what they’re talking about when it comes to jobs. What the NNPC does is create jobs. What this one does is create jobs.”

“Today there is an energy hub. If you look at the average gas station and you look at the energy hub, you will find more people in the energy hub than you would find in the gas stations, right? So what we are doing is creating jobs for this. Someone has to support the integration.

“Someone has to support automation. Electric vehicles, we have to be here to support people. So for us nothing really changes. What we’re doing is just what customer delivery is. Assurance, customer comfort, that’s really what we’re after. That’s what smart delivery means.”

Also speaking, the Executive Director, Retail Operations and Mobility, NNPC Limited, Shettima Baba-Kukawa, informed those present that the Abuja station had a storage capacity of 180,000 liters of Premium Motor Spirit and 45,000 liters of automotive diesel.

With 16 PMS pumps, two AGO pumps and six electric vehicle charging points installed in collaboration with African Motor Works, the facility is powered entirely by solar energy through a system with a capacity of more than 200 kilowatts.

Furthermore, Baba-Kukawa said the outlet’s main features include a quick-service restaurant, a café, an automated car wash, a modern service area and LPG dispensing facilities, while CNG and a vehicle conversion center are also planned.

Regarding how the station will work, Dagazau said, “The station will operate 24 hours a day. And it’s completely self-service. So for customers who want to trust themselves and do their own shopping, they can actually do that. Transactions are made on their phone app and concluded by dispensing the exact amount of purchased fuel into their tanks.”

He further said that if a customer has difficulty using the digital system, the NNPC boss said there will be support staff on the ground to assist them.

Regarding NNPC’s plans for existing stations, he said: “We will modernize our station. That’s the word we will say.

“You don’t want to go to the same station every day, every day, every day. You’re demanding, so our modernization is a demand for what the customer wants. The customer deserves better quality of service and we are providing that quality of service.”

Also speaking on the initiative, NNPC Retail CEO Huub Stokman said it has become critical as the downstream oil market evolves following deregulation and the commencement of operations at the Dangote refinery.

According to him, while customer demand for quality products is increasing, there is a need for competitive prices, faster services, digital payments and alternative energy options such as electric vehicle charging and CNG.

Continuing, he said, “Above all, especially the younger generations, they want us to provide it in a sustainable way, hence the fact that you also see that this station is completely solar powered.”