Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), appears to be living up to his promise of achieving maximum performance of the nation’s refineries upon assumption of office, as he has officially announced that full rehabilitation of all the four refineries will begin January, 2020.
Port Harcourt (two), Warri and Kaduna refineries are Nigeria’s refineries that are expected to witness the full rehabilitation, Mele Kyari confirmed.
Kyari gave the information during a facilities tour of the Port Harcourt Refining and Petrochemical Company (PHRC), affirming that the rehabilitation of the plants would commence from the start of next year.
Ndu Ughamadu, the corporation’s spokesperson, said the NNPC helmsman’s visit to the refinery was part of his determination and commitment to ensure that the nation’s refineries deliver value and address the petroleum needs of Nigerians.
Nigeria’s four refineries have a combined capacity to refine 445,000 barrels per day of crude oil, but have been comatose, forcing the nation to depend on imported petroleum products for local use.
Kyari noted in the statement that making the refineries to operate at optimal capacities was a mandate that NNPC as a corporation would leave no stones unturned to actualise, saying a timely delivery of the asset was a priority.
“We will stick to time, we will deliver this project by 2022. We will commence actual rehabilitation work in January. We will do everything possible between October and December to close out all necessary conditions for us to deliver on that project. I believe that with the support that we have from the shareholders – government of this country, the entire staff of this company and the contractors, I believe it is doable and we will deliver the project, the GMD said.
He tasked the contractors on the need to consider their reputation as most critical element in business processes and engagements.
“It’s no longer about business now, but a reputational issue. For the original builders of the refinery, Tecmmont, Eni/NAOC and NNPC, let us be conscious of the fact that our reputation is at stake as far as this project is concerned. The NNPC leadership has promised this country that our refineries will work; therefore, we must work not to disappoint over 200 million Nigerian stakeholders”.
The NNPC boss challenged the PHRC management to ensure that the nation’s indigenous engineers and other professionals working in the refinery are fully engaged to participate actively during the rehabilitation exercise and own the process.
According to the GMD, the involvement of the indigenous workers will build capacity, save cost and introduce an era of steady and uninterrupted production curve that will grow the oil and Gas Industry.
In his presentation on the progress and milestones on Phase 1 of the projects, the Tecmmont Project Manager, La Mattina Carmelo, disclosed that the Inspection aspect of the project had progressed to 91% and Final Report and EPC Proposal stood at 75%, adding that his company would deliver the first phase of the rehabilitation within three weeks from now.
He assured that there were no challenges as the project was progressing efficiently, pledging to offer its best services to ensure a timely delivery.
In the same vein, the project consulting company, Eni/NAOC, represented by its project manager, Daniele Tamburini, confirmed that the work done so far by the NNPC and Tecmmont complied with global standard.
Tamburini said his company was ready to receive the full report of the scoping for final assessment and support the corporation to deliver the project in record time, saying that the initiative was a good business for Nigeria.
Earlier in his address, the Managing Director of the PHRC, Abba Bukar, expressed appreciation to the GMD for his deep commitment in ensuring that the refinery works for the benefit of Nigerians.
