Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri speaks during a media briefing to announce the 1.8mbopd crude oil production milestone at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, on Thursday. The Minister is flanked to his right by the Chairman, NNPC Board, Chief Pius Akinyelure and to his left, by the GCEO NNPC Ltd, Mr. Mele Kyari.
Whereas the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.), has remained very silent on the true state of crude oil pipelines from Southern Nigeria to Kaduna, it has noted that the 150,000 barrels per day (bpd) Port Harcourt Refinery and Kaduna Refinery are undergoing a comprehensive overhaul, designed to meet world-class standards.
Analysts say for more than three decades, there had not been kind of repairs along the oil pipelines to and fro Kaduna Refinery, thus raising questions on how crude oil will be taken to Kaduna after the acclaimed ongoing repairs.
The company said the rehabilitation done at the 60,000 bpd Port Harcourt Refinery and Warri Refinery was not the typical Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) of the past, but a comprehensive overhaul, designed to meet global standards.
The Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd., Olufemi Soneye made the clarification in a statement on Thursday while responding to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s comments on the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.
The former president had earlier expressed doubts about the operational status of the rehabilitated 60,000 bpd Port Harcourt refinery and Warri refinery.
Obasanjo had said that the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) advised against the Port Harcourt Refinery’s viability due to corruption, and alleged that the NNPC Ltd. misled Nigerians by claiming that its refineries are operational.
Reacting, Soneye said that a notable achievement of the NNPC Ltd. was the overhauling of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries, while similar efforts were underway at the second Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries.
He said the NNPC Ltd was committed to enhance and maintain the refineries to global standards for sustainable operations.
