THE Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Mele Kyari has told the Senate that the Port Harcourt refinery will begin to deliver refined petroleum products in two weeks, just as he assured Nigerians that the rehabilitation of the refineries would be completed on schedule.
Kyari also disclosed that the Warri refinery was almost ready too, while the refinery in Kaduna would be completed and ready to go into production in December this year.
Meanwhile, the Senate has disowned the alleged report of a fraud in the Turn Around Maintenance of the nation’s refineries currently being undertaken by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited.
Speaking with Journalists Thursday shortly after meeting with the Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, APC, Anambra-South led Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Turnaround Maintenance of the country’s four refineries, Kyari disclosed that the rehabilitation of the refinery had been completed, having passed its “completion mechanical” procedure.
He said, “The Completion mechanical means that you are done with your rehabilitation work, now you are to test if this completion is okay.
“As for Warri refinery, we have also completed the mechanical works on it and it is undergoing the regulatory compliance processes that we are doing with our regulator.
“This also will be completed and it will be ready. “Kaduna will be ready by December, We have not reached that stage (of Port Harcourt and Warri) with Kaduna.”
Kyari explained that there were no challenges with the pipelines to deliver crude to the refineries, as the existing lines were fully pressurised to deliver crude.
“All crude lines are active and have actually delivered over 450,000 barrels into Port Harcourt refinery.
“We are confident of the integrity of it. Yes, there may be security issues, but also the government is responding to the situation.”
Chairman of the Senate adhoc panel, Senator Ifeanyi Ubah who told his colleagues that he already had some documents on the TAM and that no fraudulent practice had been discovered in the exercise, said that the country would want to know that progress is being made on the rehabilitation of the refineries
He said, “I have seen some documents indicating that something is being done and there is nothing to suggest that there is a foul play in the exercise.”
According to him, members of the Committee would visit all the refineries with a view to ascertaining the progress of work there so that a comprehensive report would be presented to the Senate in plenary soonest.
A member of the adhoc committee, Senator Barinada Mpigi, PDP, Rivers South East urged the NNPCL management to pay attention to the security challenges in the oil rich region, just as he that said it would not augur well if the refineries are fixed and insecurity prevented crude from getting there.
