The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), says Port
Harcourt and Warri refineries have commenced preliminary
production of
petroleum products after successful test-runs.
In a statement by
the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Mr Ohi
Alegbe, in Abuja on Wednesday the refineries will produce 335, 000
barrels daily.
The statement explained that this followed
successful re-streaming after a nine-month phased rehabilitation by
in-house engineers and technicians.
It stated that PHRC was ramping up its operation to about 60 per cent of its 210,000 barrels per day name plate capacity.
According to the statement, WRPC production is projected to hit 80 per cent of its installed 125,000 bpd capacity.
It
stated that the PHRC was projected to boost the nation’s local refining
capacity with a product yield of five million litres of petrol per day.
It added that Warri Refinery would contribute 3.5 million litres of petrol to local refining capacity.
The
statement explained that NNPC adopted the phased rehabilitation after
the Original Refinery Builders (ORB), who were initially contacted for
the project, came up with unfavorable terms.
It explained that a
decision was taken in 2011 to rehabilitate all the refineries using the
ORB of each of the refineries. “We were impelled to switch strategy
after the ORBs declined participation and nominated some partners in
their stead who came up with outrageously unfavorable terms,” it stated.
It
stressed that the nominated partners, as sole-bidders, came up with
humongous price offers after two years of thorough and exhaustive scope
of work definition and price negotiations.
It explained that the
proxies were also unwilling to provide post rehabilitation performance
guarantees. “The phased rehabilitation strategy entailed phased and
simultaneous rehabilitation of all refineries using in-house and locally
available resources in line with the spirit and letter of the Nigerian
Content Law.
“It also involved the use of Original Equipment
Manufacturer representatives to effect major equipment overhaul and
rehabilitation.”
It stated that the phased rehabilitation, which
started in October 2014 after the required funding stream was
established, created a 70-per cent reduction in costs.
It said this had helped largely in mitigating the financing challenge of refinery rehabilitation.
It
stated that with the successful re-streaming of the PHRC and WRPC,
attention had moved to the 110,000 barrels per day Kaduna Refining and
Petrochemicals Company (KRPC).
According to the statement, the KRPC is billed to come on stream soon.
Source: PM News
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