The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation will soon shut
down three of its four refineries, according to the Group Managing Director,
Dr. Maikanti Baru, has said.
Baru, who said this on the sidelines of the inaugural
Nigerian Pipeline Security Conference and Exhibition, stated that the purpose
of the closure of the refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna was
to rehabilitate and restore them to nameplate capacities.
According to him, the rehabilitation work will restore the
refineries to nameplate capacities by 2019 when the country is expected to end
the importation of petroleum products.
He said, “As you know, it has been the perception of the
public that the repairs of the refineries are never done thoroughly. So this
time, our intention is to shut down the refineries when we are ready, and then
fully bring them back to what they should be as new refineries.
“Obviously, it is going to be a complex procedure and as
such, we have to break down the various work packages to ensure that all the
various workforces have sufficient focus, and if you notice the time that we
inaugurated eight committees on the refineries rehabilitation, the work streams
are composed of the general managers and executive directors level, and they
will be having a day-to-day look at it, while the steering committee is at my
level and that of the chief operating officers, all looking at the problems the
workstations have and they will proffer solutions immediately.
“We intend to focus on the repairs of the refineries with
all that it takes to ensure that this time, when we are done by 2019, these
refineries will be as good as new.”
The shutdown of the refineries may not significantly affect
the supply of petroleum products in the country as much of what is being
consumed by Nigerians is currently being imported.
In a statement made available by Group General Manager,
Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC disclosed that Baru, in
line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive had inaugurated eight
committees to oversee the complete revamping of the refineries.
The committees included workstations for rehabilitation,
stakeholder management, financing, legal, procurement, pipeline, crude oil
supply and security, and staffing and succession planning.
The statement said the oil corporation had received over 28
Expressions of Interest from private funding sources for the refineries’
rehabilitation project, while more were being expected before the end of this
year.
Baru said, “I am convinced that the teams we have selected
here today will give the necessary direction towards returning the refineries
back to their optimal levels of performance.
“We want to show everyone that we can fully run the
refineries. You must all work together to operate them at 100 per cent capacity
as this is the only way to ensure profitability. We can fix the refineries but
without the right people to operate them, they will go back to where they were
or even worse.”
The Chief Operating Officer, Refineries and Petrochemicals,
NNPC, Mr. Anibor Kragha, said the 2019 target was possible because the
corporation had both the political will and the economic climate to guarantee
complete rework of the refineries.
According to him, the Federal Government will not suffer
financially from the project as the financial model approved for it will be
paid from the operational profits as payment is hinged on performance.
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