The Nation Newspaper

Tag: refineries

  • Refineries will begin operation before December, says Senator Ipinsagba

    Refineries will begin operation before December, says Senator Ipinsagba

    The senator representing Ondo North Senatorial District of Ondo state, Jide Ipinsagba, has assured Nigerians that all refineries in the country would begin full operation before the end of this year.

    Senator Ipinsagba, who is the chairman of Niger Delta Affairs, said the current sufferings of Nigerians in the petroleum sector would soon be a thing of the past.

    Ipinsagba, who spoke at a press briefing in Akure, stated that all ongoing work on the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries would have been completed before December this year.

    The vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream stated that the Port Harcourt refinery has reached about 90 to 95 percent optimization in terms of retrofitting, the Warri refinery was about 80 percent, and the Kaduna refinery was about 70 percent.

    He said: “Efforts are on top gear to ensure all the refineries are functioning before the end of this year. So with all these internal consumption of fuel will not be a problem.

    Read Also: Renewed Hope: Umahi holds talks on 130kms Tinubu legacy projects in Cross River

    “This is not a paper talk, our committee went for oversight on this. What I am telling you now, it was demonstrated and we saw it. We went there (to the refineries), we looked at everything. It is not that we sat in our office and talked, we went to Kaduna, we were in Port Harcourt, we were in Lagos, and Warri as well, just to ensure what they were telling us was not just on paper.

    He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

    “Nigeria was sick before and what the current administration is doing now is recovering plan, we are trying to do damage control but that cannot be done in a day. President Tinubu is trying his best to ensure the country stabilises. You can see that interventions are coming from different angles now. I will only appeal to Nigerians to be patient a bit and see how this government is going to perform.”

  • Reps petroleum committee to carry out thorough inspection of refineries

    Reps petroleum committee to carry out thorough inspection of refineries

    The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Midstream), Prince Odianosen Okojie, says it will soon carry out a thorough inspection of all refineries in Nigeria, including modular refineries.

    Speaking in an interactive session with key stakeholders in the oil and gas sector in Abuja on Monday, he said this would be in alignment with the core mandate of the committee. 

    Okojie, who represents Esan North East/Esan South East of Edo State, stressed the committee’s commitment to ensuring the efficient and timely completion of the nation’s refineries. 

    He emphasized the importance of reducing dependency on fuel importation through the revitalization of the country’s refineries.

    Read Also: Opebi-Ojota link bridge will be ready Q3 2024 – Sanwo-Olu

    Hon. Okojie assured Nigerians of the committee’s readiness to collaborate with Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) in achieving the comprehensive rehabilitation of the refineries. 

    He expressed the committee resolve to provide necessary legislative support for the effective and optimal performance of the plants.

    Looking ahead, Hon. Okojie expressed optimism about a significant boost in fuel production, attributing it to the proposed December deadline for the completion of the ongoing rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt plant and the Federal Government‘s policies aimed at revamping other dormant refineries.

    “This strategic initiative will contribute to economic prosperity and infrastructural advancement, which is the hall mark of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda”, he said.

  • Deadline for full operation of refineries will be met, Reps committee assures

    Deadline for full operation of refineries will be met, Reps committee assures

    The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum (Midstream), Prince Henry Odianosen Okojie, has assured Nigerians that the deadline for the country’s refineries to be fully operational will be met.

    He said this on the heels of the promise by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) that it would end the importation of refined petroleum products by December 2024 as all the country’s refineries would be operational by then.

    The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, during a visit to Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, on Thursday had assured that the Port Harcourt refinery would begin production in January 2024.

    Kyari had added that in the first quarter of 2024, the Warri refinery will come into operation, and by the end of the same year, the Kaduna refinery will come into operation.

    Hon Okojie, who represents Esan North East/Esan South East Federal Constituency of Edo State, assured that necessary legislative interventions and oversight would be carried out to ensure this deadline is met so life can become better for Nigerians.

    Read Also: Abbas recommends privatisation of Nigeria’s refineries

    He said this would lead to a considerable drop in the prices of refined petroleum products and improve the economy.

    Okojie assured that the problems associated with petroleum products would soon become a thing of the past as President Bola Tinubu is committed to improving the lives of Nigerians in line with his renewed hope agenda.

    The lawmaker, who backed President Tinubu’s policies aimed at developing the nation’s oil and gas sector, said it would lead the country to economic prosperity and infrastructural advancement.

    He said the Committee on Petroleum Resources (Midstream) will provide the needed legislative support geared towards advancing the oil and gas sector.

  • NAF air strikes destroy six illegal refineries, five boats in Rivers

    NAF air strikes destroy six illegal refineries, five boats in Rivers

    Air strikes by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft have destroyed six illegal refining sites and five Cotonou boats at Cawthorne Channel and Alakri in Rivers State.

    The strikes were part of efforts by the military’s efforts to combat oil theft and checkmate the activities of economic sabotages in the Niger Delta region.

    NAF’s spokesperson, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, November 14.

    Gabkwet said the air strikes were conducted on Sunday, Movement 12 after the NAF had received intelligence revealing the presence of three active Illegal Refining Sites (IRS) and two Cotonou boats siphoning crude oil from pipelines at Cawthorne Channel and Alakri

    Read Also: Sacrifice your security votes like Adeleke – Olajengbesi urges govs

    He said: “Similar strikes were also carried out at Krakama in Rivers State, on the same day, on three Cotonou boats sighted conveying suspected illegal refined products. On 13 November 2023,

    “NAF aircraft also struck some sites at Dariama village in Rivers State following intelligence report of illegal refining activities near the location. On arrival, three IRS with tanks, pipes, and pumping machines as well as Cotonou Boats loaded with suspected illegally refined products were sighted, engaged, and subsequently destroyed.”

    According to the NAF’s spokesperson, the intensified air operations were proactive measures to safeguard the economic interests of the nation and deter criminal elements involved in oil theft.

    Gabkwet said: “The NAF, alongside sister Services and other security agencies, remains committed in its efforts at securing vital government resources and infrastructures in the Niger Delta Region and beyond.”

  • Reps propose privatisation of petroleum refineries

    Reps propose privatisation of petroleum refineries

    The House of Representatives is considering the privatisation of the four national petroleum refineries as one of the strategies to enhance the performance of the oil and gas sector.

    Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Hon. Ikenga Ugochinyere dropped the hint yesterday during the committee’s visit to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in Abuja.

    According to him, the proposal is predicated on the fact that the rehabilitation of the refineries has gulped funds that would have been sufficient to build three new ones.

    He insisted that privatising the refineries would make them more beneficial to the citizenry since they would provide refined petroleum products domestically.

    “Let me also propose to you one of the things our committee is going to be championing in the days ahead which is the privatisation of some of our nation’s refineries.

    “You will agree with me that for decades we have been on these refineries issue.

    Read Also: Tinubu sets 3-year economic revival, 50million jobs target

    “And we have spent money that if they use it to build new refineries we would have built two or three. And then we keep maintaining them over time.

    “It is better that these refineries are privatised to make them efficient so that Nigerians can get the benefits they require in refining our products domestically,” Ugochinyere said.

    He commended NEITI Executive Secretary, Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, for the reforms he has been  championing in the extractive industries for the benefit of Nigerians.

    He added that NEITI has taken a commendable position by seeking more investments in the downstream as it has to do with the building of more private  refineries.

    According to him, the establishment of private refineries would help to create more jobs, infrastructure, and result in an efficient and transparent oil industry.

    He said NEITI needs more funding in terms of budgetary allocation.

    “And, also, we agree with you that what the fund is receiving is not enough for the detailed work that is doing,” Ugochinyere said.

    He assured that the committee would work towards the amendment of the NEITI Act to make provision for the watchdog organization to retain some percentage of the funds its audit reports leads to their recovery.

    Ugochinyere said, “And also we have to find a way to restructure in the amendment of the NEITI Act, a provision that will allow NEITI to keep some certain percentage of what they recover to help them to continue to do this work better.”

    He expressed the committee’s readiness to propose a legislature that will strengthen NEITI’s power to discharge its responsibilities.

    The reforms, he said, will come in form of an amendment to the NEITI Act to saddle NEITI with power to take action against offenders.

    He further noted that it will also empower NEITI to investigate offenses and recommend prosecution of offenders by relevant investigative and prosecuting agencies of the government.

    Ugochinyere vowed that the law will ensure that in the course of such investigation, NEITI will be able to sanction stakeholders who refuses cooperate in the course of discharging its responsibilities like refusal to provide documents for NEITI investigative purposes.

    It will also empower the watchdog organization to also sanction any manipulative and obstructive officials of government that prevents NEITI from carrying out its responsibilities.

    Earlier, Orji promised that NEITI will be available to guide the committee with crucial facts and data it requires to oversight the industry.

    He added that the committee came at a time the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act which this NEITI fought very hard and initiated with the support of the last National Assembly came to fruition after 18 years.

    The Executive Secretary further noted that, “The implementation of that Act has begun but the fate of that implementation is hanging in the balance.

    “We are waiting for that nerve from the committee like yours to ensure that implementation is effected and continues on the part of success.”

    He invited the committee to the unveiling of the 2021 NEITI solid minerals audit report on September 4  and oil and gas on September 18.

  • Reps propose privatization of national petroleum refineries

    Reps propose privatization of national petroleum refineries

    Members of the House of Representatives said they would make a proposal to the federal government in the next few days on the need for the privatization of the four national refineries.

    The chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere dropped the hint on Monday, August 28, during the committee’s courtesy visit to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) in Abuja.

     He said the committee has predicated the proposal on the fact that the rehabilitation of the refineries has gulped funds that would have been sufficient to build new three ones.

    Ugochinyere insisted that privatizing the refineries would make them more beneficial to the citizenry since they would provide refined petroleum products domestically.

    He stated: “Let me also propose to you one of the things our committee is going to be championing in the days ahead which is the privatization of some of our nation’s refineries.

    “You will agree with me that for decades we have been on these refinery issues.

    Read Also: Allow us fix Nigeria’s moribund refineries – Female engineers beg Tinubu

    “And we have spent money that if they use it to build new refineries we would have built two or three. And then we keep maintaining them over time.

    “It is better that these refineries are privatized to make it efficient so that Nigerians can get the benefits they require in refining our products domestically.”

    Ugochinyere extolled the NEITI Executive Secretary, Orji Ogbonnaya for the reforms he has been championing in the extractive industries for the benefit of all Nigerians.

    He added that NEITI has taken a commendable position by seeking more investments downstream as it has to do with the building of more private refineries.

    According to him, the establishment of private refineries would help create more jobs, and infrastructure, and result in an efficient and transparent oil industry.

    The committee chairman said that NEITI needs more funding in terms of budgetary allocation, adding “And also we agree with you that the fund is receiving is not enough for the detailed work that is doing.”

    He vowed that the committee would work towards the amendment of the NEITI Act to make provision for the watchdog organization to retain some percentage of the funds its audit reports lead to their recovery.

    Ugochinyere said: “And also we have to find a way to restructure in the amendment of the NEITI Act, a provision that will allow NEITI to keep some certain percentage of what they recover to help them to continue to do this work better.”

    He expressed the committee’s readiness to propose a legislature that will strengthen NEITI’s power to discharge its responsibilities.

    The reforms, he said, will come in the form of an amendment to the NEITI Act to saddle NEITI with the power to take action against offenders.

    He further noted that it will also empower NEITI to investigate offences and recommend prosecution of offenders by relevant investigative and prosecuting agencies of the government.

    Ugochinyere vowed that the law will ensure that in the course of such investigation, NEITI will be able to sanction stakeholders who refuse to cooperate in the course of discharging its responsibilities like refusal to provide documents for NEITI investigative purposes.

    It will also empower the watchdog organization to sanction any manipulative and obstructive officials of the government that prevent NEITI from carrying out its responsibilities.

    Earlier, Orji promised that NEITI would be available to guide the committee with crucial facts and data it requires to oversight the industry.

    He added that the committee came at a time when the implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act which this NEITI fought very hard and initiated with the support of the last National Assembly came to fruition after 18 years.

    The Executive Secretary further noted, “The implementation of that Act has begun but the fate of that implementation is hanging in the balance.

    “We are waiting for that nerve from a committee like yours to ensure that implementation is effected and continues on the part of success.”

    He invited the committee to the unveiling of the 2021 NEITI solid minerals audit report on September 4 and oil and gas on September 18.

    ReplyForward

  • Refineries

    At last, the long proposed rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery has been flagged off. Speaking at an inspection of the two refineries, with a combined installed capacity of 210,000 barrels per stream day, Dr. Mikanti Baru, managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said the refinery would, at the end of the exercise, be capable of achieving 90 per cent capacity.

    However, he pointed out that the rehabilitation process would take place in two phases: the integrity test of the complex; and the instrumentation test of every equipment. He pledged both exercises would be concluded in six months.

    We support this move by the government, coming just before the inauguration of a renewed tenure. We take Dr Baru’s word that all four national refineries would be revamped, to ensure that much of our domestic consumption comes from the refineries.  That should slash subsidy cost on imported oil products; and conserve foreign exchange.

    We recall that the executive and legislative arms of government were literally at war last year, over the level of subsidy paid to sustain a stable price mechanism for the premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol. Under the Jonathan administration in 2012, the subsidy regime provoked a national street protest. We have continued to call for a realistic solution to the subsidy regime that has continued to fuel claims of fraud.  Last year, the NNPC claimed that daily petrol consumption stood at 53 million litres per day, while a claim of 30 million litres importation sparked the 2012 protest.

    It is unfortunate that policy somersaults have been the bane of the industry. At one point, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said the refineries were worth nothing and would be sold off. On another occasion, the same minister said they would be revamped; and have their capacities boosted with location of privatized modular refineries, within the complexes. The government that toyed with total privatization is now settling for continuation of the existing model.  What exactly is happening?

    The government should be consistent, to engender confidence in the business community as well as in the general public. It should also be open. Nigerians deserve to know the full plans for the sector. Aside the first phase of rehabilitating the two refineries in Port Harcourt in six months, we ask: how long would the second phase last? What are the plans for the Warri and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Companies?

    The government has said the original builders of the Port Harcourt refineries, JGC of Japan, are being brought on board to gain time and facilitate its upgrade with cutting edge technology. ENI, a joint venture partner of the Federal Government, is also reportedly equally committed to the project.

    Still, Nigerians deserve to be informed of the cost outlay. As Dr. Baru pointed out, ostensible turn-around maintenance (TAM) of the refineries was undertaken in 2000 with little to show for it. This time, Nigerians want value for the public fund being committed.

    But much more than periodic bouts of maintenance, a comprehensive roadmap for the sector should be published. The combined capacity of the four refineries is put at 445,000 barrels per stream day. If huge fund is to be invested, the end must be obvious, discipline should be visible and Nigerian experts should be engaged alongside the foreign engineers.

    In 2017, the Buhari administration set up four committees to come up with detailed work plans.  The report should be reviewed and scrupulously followed. We expect the Ministry of Petroleum to come up with timelines for this project. Other African oil producing countries, Angola, Algeria, Egypt and even war-torn Libya have, over the years, managed their oil resources better.

    Nigeria should get better organized. This is one legacy President Muhammad Buhari owes this country.

  • Refineries again!

    ANY hopes about the nation’s four refineries finally delivering by the end of next year must have waned given the statement credited to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, at the ground-breaking ceremony for the 5,000 BPD modular refinery by Walter Smith Petro-chemical Limited at the Ibigwe-Ohaji in Ohaji\Egbema council area of Imo State, last week:

    “It would be sad if by the end of 2019 we are still importing fuel from abroad”. Short of offering categorical statements on the status of the individual refineries and what citizens should expect of each in the near future, Nigerians must be disappointed that the minister would again lapse into obfuscation – something that is increasingly becoming the hallmark of his stewardship at the petroleum ministry.

    Just in case the minister needed reminding, Nigerians did not have to wait for the last three years only to be offered further tepid assurances that fall short of terminating the disgraceful scourge of fuel importation that has remained a source of much bleeding on the national treasury. In any case, should the turn-around maintenance (TAM) process be clothed in secrecy as the petroleum ministry appears to be doing at the moment? What makes TAM contracts so especial to be open-ended as the minister appears to suggest?

    Again, it bears stating that the issue of what to do with the four refineries, all of which had become obsolete and so could not deliver anything near capacity is at the heart of the nation’s current fuel conundrum. With successive TAMs bungled by officials who saw the exercise as opportunity to milk the country dry, we would have thought that the choice facing the country had become fairly simple and straightforward – which is to get private sector operators to buy the refineries to save the treasury the billions routinely spent on their TAM.

    The Buhari administration of course thought otherwise, hence the current bind. Part of the correlates was last year’s atrocious demand by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for a whopping $1.8 billion to carry out TAM. To that we can add the latest suggestion coming from the minister that the corporation is nowhere near getting any of the refineries working at full capacity despite the huge funds already committed.

    It is most regrettable that the country has again been led on a path that leads nowhere, a path that has proven not only extremely costly but presents the country as being unserious. To think that the path is not only predictable but has all along been predicted makes it even worse.

    It is not too late in the day for the Federal Government to halt the travesty. The starting point is for the Buhari administration to reconsider its obduracy on the refineries, more so in the light of latest developments. As far as we can see, nothing can be gained in further pouring scarce public funds into the entities even when there are no guarantees that they would ever deliver optimally. In fact, the path of wisdom would seem to dictate that the government cuts its losses by opening up the sales process without further delay to enable interested investors acquire them. After all, what Nigerians want is availability of fuel at the pumps; it is not so much about who is producing the fuel.

    For now, the National Assembly should step in to ascertain the amount already spent on the TAMs vis-à-vis the actual state of work. The enquiry should also seek to find out whether such amounts are provided for in the corporation’s budget, while helping to lift the veil of secrecy covering the TAM contracts.

  • Refineries‘ll be fully functional next year, says Kachikwu

    Minster of State for Petroleum Ibe kachukwu said yesterday it will be sad if the nation’s refineries are not functional by the end of next yar.

    He added that the administration is committed to ensuring that the importation of petroleum products is curtailed.

    Kachukwu spoke at Ibigwe-Ohaji in Ohaji\Egbema council area of Imo State during the ground-breaking for construction of the  5,000 BPD Modular  Refinery by Walter Smith petro-chemical limited.

    The project is being partnered by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)

    He said that the Buhari administration was committed to ensuring that the nation’s refineries became functional by the end of 2019.

    “It would be sad if by the end of 2019 we are still importing fuel from abroad.

    “So, we are committed in repairing the refineries; by that we can at least process about 500,000 barrels of crude per day.

    The policy of this administration is `go back to refining about 20 per cent of our crude which will move to 50 per cent in the next five years’.

    The Minister who commended management of Walter Smith for partnering the NCDMB to realize the project said that he was hopeful that in 18 months the modular refinery would be inaugurated.

    Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Mr Kesiye  Wabote,  said the Board invested US $10 million to  catalyze the development of the Modular refinery and took 30 per cent equity in the project.

    He added that the NCDMB would divest when the modular refinery was fully developed and operational.

    Wabote pointed out that NCDMB  was promoting the Walter Smith Modular refinery as part of its capacity development mandate .

    He said that the investment was also in line with the Nigeria Content 10- year strategic plan.

    The Chairman of Walter Smith , Mr Abdulrazaq Isa, said that the Walter Smith 5,000 BPD Modular refinery was conceptualized in 2011 to mitigate the frequent outage of the third-party export trans-Niger pipeline.

    He added that it was to optimize the full value of the country’s produced crude through in-country products for the domestic market .

    “When operational in 18 months time we will.produce per day: Naphtha – 24,643 liters, Kerosene – 54,691 liters, Diesel – 300,168 liters, HPFO – 409,710 liters.

    “The refined products will be sold and evacuated from the refinery via dedicated trucks from bay five truck rack where products are loaded into the tankers.

  • ‘Our refineries will be fully functional before 2019 ending’

    The Minster of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe kachukwu,  has said that it would be sad if the nation’s refineries are not functional by the end of 2019.

    According to him, the present administration is committed to ensuring that the importation of petroleum products is curtailed.

    Kachukwu stated this on Thursday in Ibigwe-Ohaji in Ohaji\Egbema council area of Imo during the ground-breaking for construction of the  5,000 BPD Modular  Refinery by Walter Smith petro-chemical limited.

    The project is being partnered by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)

    He said that the Buhari administration was committed to ensuring that the nation’s refineries became functional by the end of 2019.

    “It would be sad if by the end of 2019 we are still importing fuel from abroad.

    “So, we are committed in repairing the refineries; by that we can at least process about 500,000 barrels of crude per day.

    The policy of this administration is `go back to refining about 20 per cent of our crude which will move to 50 per cent in the next five years’.

    The Minister who commended management of Walter Smith for partnering the NCDMB to realize the project said that he was hopeful that in 18 months the modular refinery would be inaugurated.

     Also, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, Mr Kesiye  Wabote,  said the Board invested US $10 million to  catalyze the development of the Modular refinery and took 30 per cent equity in the project.

    He added that the NCDMB would divest when the modular refinery was fully developed and operational.

    Wabote pointed out that NCDMB  was promoting the Walter Smith Modular refinery as part of its capacity development mandate .

    He said that the investment was also in line with the Nigeria Content 10- year strategic plan. 

    The Chairman of Walter Smith , Mr Abdulrazaq Isa, said that the Walter Smith 5,000 BPD Modular refinery was conceptualized in 2011 to mitigate the frequent outage of the third-party export trans-Niger pipeline.

    He added that it was to optimize the full value of the country’s produced crude through in-country products for the domestic market .

    “When operational in 18 months time we will.produce per day: Naphtha – 24,643 liters, Kerosene – 54,691 liters, Diesel – 300,168 liters, HPFO – 409,710 liters.

    “The refined products will be sold and evacuated from the refinery via dedicated trucks from bay five truck rack where products are loaded into the tankers.(NAN)