The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has revealed that the ongoing quick-fix project at the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited will be back on stream by the end of 2024.
This was disclosed in a statement posted on the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), yesterday.
According to the statement, Lokpobiri disclosed this yesterday, during an inspection tour of Kaduna Refinery & Petrochemicals while assessing the progress of work on the ongoing quick-fix project of the refinery.
The statement read in part: “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.
“The Minister, 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 the Minister, 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 will be delivered by the end of 2024.
He stated that all hands are on deck to bring the refinery back on stream, stressing that the contractor has since mobilised to the site and the equipment needed for the quick-fix activities is already in place.
Kyari further said, “We plan the quick fix for 60,000 barrels per day, so that we can start making money from this plant and 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 (BOOT) on the pipeline, so as to have a reliable pipeline delivery infrastructure”.
“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”, he stated.
