Emmanuel OchayiNigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has voiced the Federal government’s commitment to holding the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) accountable for the rehabilitation of the nation’s refineries, as scheduled, by the end of 2024.
Lokpobiri delivered this message during a press interaction over the weekend, following a three-day retreat for Ministers, Special Advisers, and other presidential aides at the Conference Centre of State House, Abuja.
The spotlight on NNPC’s responsibility for rehabilitating the three refineries in Nigeria has intensified in response to the ongoing fuel scarcity issues and the government’s drive to increase reliance on natural gas. The Senate’s establishment of an ad-hoc committee to investigate NNPC’s spending of N11.35 trillion on Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the refineries further underscores the significance of this issue.
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When questioned about the rehabilitation timeline, Minister Lokpobiri provided an insight into the progress, stating, “Yes, the rehabilitation of the refineries, if you could remember, was started by the previous administration, and as part of the president’s directive, I have gone round all the refineries, and from what they have briefed me, Port Harcourt has 3 phases, so Phase 1 will be ready by the end of this year. I am not the one who is directly in charge of rehabilitation, it is the NNPC, and they have told me, and I am holding them accountable.”
He continued, “For Warri refinery, they said Phase 1 will be ready by the end of the year. Phases 2 and 3 in Port Harcourt will be ready next year, and the whole of the Kaduna refinery will be ready by the end of next year. That is what they said, and I am holding them accountable to their own words. I will be going there in the next few weeks, I will go there regularly and sometimes without a schedule so that nobody plans for me. I just appear to see what is going on. I believe that those refineries if we can achieve some level of rehabilitation by the end of this year, will also improve our domestic refining capacity.”
Lokpobiri also emphasized the importance of ramping up crude oil production to address the country’s fuel crisis. He expressed optimism that by the end of 2023, the federal government’s target crude oil production would rise to two million barrels per day.
Moreover, in a bold move to boost the country’s refining capacity, Lokpobiri highlighted the government’s commitment to licensing more modular refineries, provided they effectively utilize their licenses. He warned that licenses of underutilized modular refineries would not be spared.
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