Says
Nigeria, Niger To Sign MoU On New Refinery
• No Going
Back On Ending Gas Flaring By 2020
Minister of
State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, yesterday, said the much-awaited
overhaul of the country’s refineries would become a reality next month, as
plans have been concluded to complete necessary arrangement with financials.
The
minister, who reviewed efforts of the current administration in the oil and
sector, noted that President Muhammadu Buhari and the President of Niger
Republic, Mahamadou Issoufu, would in the coming weeks sign a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) for the construction of a new refinery to be located in a
border town between both countries and close to Katsina State.
Kachikwu
insisted that there was no going back on government’s commitment to end
environmental challenges in the oil-producing region, especially the need to
bring an end to gas flaring in the next two years.
Speaking on
the new refinery, he said: “The refinery talks are at advanced stages. We
expect the two Presidents to meet soon for the joint signing of the MoU.
The minister
said on his Twitter handle, @ibekachikwu “On local production capacity and
local consumption we are in an era where public sector funds are no longer used
for refinery Turn Around Maintenance (TAM).
“We are
looking forward to completing the process by July 2018.”
He said
government would put policies in place to fast-track private sector involvement
in the downstream sector, as nameplate capacity utilisation of existing
refineries would still not ensure 100 per cent consumption availability.
He noted
that the roadmap launched by the administration, otherwise called the ‘7 bid
wins,’ has helped in boosting oil production and sustaining peace in the
oil-producing region.
According to
him, continuous engagement with stakeholders and partnership with PANDEF added
huge value towards improved figures of oil output.
On the Niger
Delta and security, Kachikwu stated that after the collaborative work done with
other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), state governments are now
fully involved.
“On modular
refineries, two are structured to be delivered early in 2019. Five are deep in
the fabrication process and we are looking at delivering a total of about 10,”
he added.
Also
speaking on the country’s relationship with Organisation of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC), he said: “Nigeria, over the last three years, has
shown tremendous leadership in the body, with a very visible presence and
respected voice.
“This can
also be attributed to the various exemptions we have gotten so far in the area
of productions cuts.”
Regarding
reforms in the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), he noted that
government had taken a bold step through its policy, called the ‘20Fixes,’
adding that the Group Managing Director (GMD) of the corporation, Maikanti
Baru, would implement necessary reforms and unbundling processes.
Meanwhile,
OPEC witnessed 13-month low oil output with May figure standing at about 32
million barrels per day due to decrease from Nigeria.
The biggest
decrease in the supply came from Nigeria due to a force majeure declared last
month by Shell.
OPEC’s May
statistic showed that supply was down by 70,000 bpd from April’s revised
figure. The supply in May was the lowest since April last year.
0 Comments