A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
By Akinola Ajibade
The Federal Government should invest more on quality infrastructures in orde to reduce importation of quality refinery equipment,which otherwise can be sourced locally, the President/Chief Executive officer, Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has said.
He spoke at the recent Nigerian Content Midstream – Downstream Oil and Gas Summit 2022,in Lagos recently.
He noted that the development of specific, sustainable equipment manufacturing and services should be the focus of the Nigerian Content Delivery Monitoring Board(NCDMB and the Federal Government.
He added:“Funding of a project should be to ensure that substantial part of the product plant must be of Nigerian origin; the same applies to goods and services. Government should ensure a single digit tax regime to encourage investment in the downstream sector”.
Represented at the event by the Technical Consultant, Dangote Industries Limited, Engr. Babajide Soyode, Dangote said that the coming on stream of the 650,000 barrels-per-day Dangote Petroleum Refinery will guarantee availability of high quality environmentally compliant products in Nigeria, regional markets in West Africa, Southern Africa and inter-continental markets.
He also said Dangote Petroleum Refinery would promote competition of local refining in Africa by encouraging existing large refineries to upscale, which would result in surplus products for exports.
He stated: “Dangote Petroleum Refinery will guarantee adequate fuels production for domestic consumption, availability of excess products for export, stabilisation of domestic currency, upgrading and expansion of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation refineries and promotion of prospects of Nigeria transformation to a regional refining hub.”
Speaking earlier, the Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Mr. Simbi Wabote reiterated the government’s target to increase domestic refining capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day in the next five years.
He explained that this was being done by rehabilitating the existing four national refineries and providing strategic support for setting up private-owned Greenfield and modular refineries in the country.
He said:“Combined refining capacity of more than 1.4mbpd is expected from these focus areas within the next five years. About 400,000bpd is expected from the rehabilitation of NNPC refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna using target performance of not less than 90 per cent of nameplate capacity. The greenfield element of the roadmap covers the 650,000bpd Dangote Refinery in Lagos and the 200,000bpd BUA Refinery in Akwa Ibom”.
In his remarks, the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Mr. Farouk Ahmed, said there were huge opportunities in the oil and gas value chain.
Ahmed, represented by Mr. Francis Ogaree, Executive Director, Hydrocarbon Processing Plants, Installations and Transportation Infrastructure, NMDPRA, said the authority would continue to enable business in the sector.
He noted that the enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) had introduced a governance framework for the industry with clear delineation of roles between regulation and profit-centric business units.
Ahmed noted that the Act contained fiscal incentives to attract investment in gas development and local refining.
Comments
Post a Comment