9th September, 2015
Femi Adi/Kaduna
In a bid to ensure adequate supply of Premium Motor Spirit popularly known as petrol and other petroleum products in the country, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, said it is already considering the option of building new refineries to complement the old ones as soon as possible.
The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu who disclosed this during an official tour of Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company, KRPC, on Wednesday said it is obvious that the old refineries are wearing out and can no longer meet local demands of products across the country.
According to the NNPC boss, it is only when new refineries are built that the problems of fuel scarcity and other problems associated with the inability of NNPC and its subsidiary to deliver will be resolved.
Fielding questions from journalists on assessment of Kaduna Refinery after the tour, Kachikwu said there is need for a new model if it must work optimally.
He also said because the refinery is very key to survival of the economy of Kaduna State and other states in the north, the management is working hard to make KRPC work at full capacity.
While noting that three out of the six units of Kaduna refinery are working, he reiterated the commitment of the management to ensure that within the stipulated 90 days time frame, some elements of Kaduna plant would work as planned.
On the issue of safeguarding pipelines against vandalism after the tour of the plant in Kaduna, Kachikwu said the new management has already taken measures to deploy strategic military approach to safeguard the pipelines and block leakages arising from pipelines breaks and product loss.
“We have been sending body language message that the business of messing around with our pipelines is over,” he stated.
He also gave assurance that NNPC would soon start pumping crude oil from Warri to Kaduna once the problems of pipelines are rectified.
Speaking on the crude swap cancellation, Kachikwu maintained that it was done to ensure transparency and recover millions of dollars looted through the swap deals.
“We have saved 200 million dollars by virtue of doing that,” he said.