By Ikugbadi Oluwasegun
Hon. Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources has announced that the rehabilitation of the Kaduna Refinery will be completed by the end of 2024.
He made the disclosure during an inspection tour of the refinery on Saturday, when the minister of state for petroleum resources visited the refinery to assess the level of the ongoing rehabilitation work under the quick-fix project.
He reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to end petroleum product importation through the resuscitation of the nation’s refineries.
The 110,000 bpd capacity Kaduna Refinery is one of Nigeria’s four dysfunctional refineries that have produced no petrol for many years, leaving the country to rely heavily on imported petroleum products.
However, in February 2023, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) signed an agreement with a Korean Company, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited for the rehabilitation of the refinery.
Earlier in his remarks, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., Mele Kyari, reassured the Minister that the fuel plant at the refinery will be delivered by the end of 2024.
Kyari said that all hands are on deck to bring the refinery back on stream, stressing that the contractor has since mobilized to the site and the needed equipment for the quick-fix activities is 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 (BOT) 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 Limited’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.