The 110,000 bpd-capacity Kaduna Refinery is one of Nigeria’s four dysfunctional refineries that have produced no fuel for years leaving the country to rely on imported petroleum products.
The Nigerian government on Saturday said with the ongoing quick-fix project, the Kaduna refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited (KRPC) will be back on stream by the end of 2024.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) disclosed this in a statement by its management posted via its official X platform on Saturday.
The 110,000 bpd-capacity Kaduna Refinery is one of Nigeria’s four dysfunctional refineries that have produced no fuel for years, leaving the country to rely on imported petroleum products.
In August 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved the award of the contract for the rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna Refineries at the combined total sum of $1.5 billion.
In February, NNPC Limited signed an agreement with Daewoo Engineering & Construction Nigeria Limited for the rehabilitation of the refinery.
On Saturday, the NNPCL said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, revealed that with the ongoing quick-fix project at the KRPC, it will be back on stream by the end of 2024.
According to the statement, Mr Lokpobiri disclosed this during an inspection tour of Kaduna Refinery & Petrochemicals while assessing the progress of the work on the ongoing quick-fix project of the refinery in Kaduna on Saturday.
Mr Lokpobiri said he is confident that the refinery will be re-streamed by the end of 2024, considering the “significant level of progress” he has witnessed on the tour.
Mr Lokpobiri, who observed that he would continue to hold key players involved in the rehabilitation process of the nation’s refineries accountable, also pledged federal government support in ensuring the timely delivery of the project.
According to him, there is an urgent need to get the refinery back on stream for the nation’s economic prosperity and energy security, which are both paths to sustainable development.
In his remarks, the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, reassured the Minister that the fuel plant at the refinery would be delivered by the end of 2024.
Mr Kyari said that all hands are on deck to bring the refinery back on stream noting 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,” Mr Kyari was quoted by the statement as saying.
The inspection tour, which was preceded by the 14th Refineries Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting, according to the statement, 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.