The Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited will be back on stream by the end of 2024, the Federal Government announced on Saturday.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, disclosed this during an inspection tour of the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals, while assessing the progress of work on the ongoing quick-fix project of the refinery in Kaduna.
Lokpobiri, in a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter) by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, said he was confident that the refinery would be re-streamed by the end of 2024, considering the “significant level of progress” he witnessed on the tour.
The minister said he would continue to hold key players involved in the rehabilitation process of the nation’s refineries accountable and pledged the Federal Government’s support in ensuring the timely delivery of the project.
According to him, there was an urgent need to get the refinery back on stream for the nation’s economic prosperity and energy security, which were both paths to sustainable development.
The Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd., Mele Kyari, reassured the minister that the fuel plant at the refinery would be delivered by the end of 2024.
Kyari said all hands were on deck to bring the refinery back on stream, stressing that the contractor had since mobilised to the site and the needed equipment for the quick-fix activities was already in place.
“We are very confident that we will get the appropriate financing to get to the end of it, and ultimately, we will start to deliver value to Nigerians again. We plan the quick fix for 60,000 barrels per day so that we can start making money from this plant and we can continue the other part of the refinery to bring it up to its full-fledged capacity.
“This will also tally with the completion of the Build, Operate, and Transfer on the pipeline so as to have a reliable pipeline delivery infrastructure,” the GCEO stated.
The inspection tour, which was preceded by the 14th Refineries Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting, also had in attendance NNPC Ltd’s Executive Vice President, Downstream, Adedapo Segun; Executive Vice President, Upstream, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan; managing directors of the three refineries; and a host of other members of the committee.
More refineries ready
In a related development, the Federal Government, on Saturday, announced that more domestic refineries had issued a notice to commence the production of refined petroleum products.
It also announced its readiness to enforce domestic crude oil supply obligation that would ensure the availability of crude to indigenous refiners.
The government disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
The statement was signed by the Head, Public Affairs and Corporate Communications, NUPRC, Olaide Shonola.
It said, “As more private refineries indicate readiness to commence production soon in Nigeria, the NUPRC is taking all necessary steps within the prescriptions of the Petroleum Industry Act (2021) to ensure adequate and consistent supply of feedstock to operators.”
It cautioned that there would be consequences for sabotaging the process.
Aside from Dangote Refinery in Lagos, which has yet to commence operations, only four modular refineries are currently operating in Nigeria, producing very limited volumes of diesel.
It said the pre-emptive steps were being taken because it would send wrong and unbecoming signals to the international business community if operators of domestic refineries in one of the world’s largest crude oil-producing countries start importing feedstock for their production.
“It was in contemplation of this that Section 109 of the PIA introduced the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation to Nigeria’s oil industry in a bid to ensure that domestic refineries are not starved of crude oil supply for their operation,” the commission stated.
The NUPRC said it would take further necessary steps required to avoid inadequate supply of crude oil to domestic refineries and would not hesitate, where necessary, to enforce the stipulated penalties for violations and non-compliance to the provisions of the Act.
The upstream oil sector regulator also stated that in line with its mandate of ensuring crude oil supply to licensed refineries in Nigeria as enshrined in Section 109 (4) of the PIA, all the 52 exploration and production companies had been invited to a meeting on November 1, 2023.
It said the meeting is for alignment on the implementation of domestic crude oil supply obligation, operator’s compliance status and operator’s response.
“By October 27, 11 of the operators had responded, while that of the remaining 42 operators is still being awaited.
Punch
