Nigeria, the largest oil producer in Africa, is about to embark on another oil refinery project, focusing on the rehabilitation of a dilapidated refinery.
This project is months after Africa’s richest man, Dangote, launched his oil refinery.
Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), has declared that the current restoration of the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (KRPC), located in the Northern region of Nigeria will be finished in time for operations to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024.
This was disclosed by Lokpobiri during an inspection trip of the Kaduna Refinery & Petrochemicals on Saturday, according to a news release from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited. Lokpobiri was evaluating the status of work on the current quick-fix project of the Kaduna Refinery
Given the “significant level of progress” he saw during the excursion, Lokpobiri expressed confidence that the refinery will be restored by the end of 2024.
The Minister promised the Federal Government’s assistance in guaranteeing the project’s prompt completion and said that he would keep holding important parties responsible for the nation’s refineries’ repair.
He noted that the refinery must be restarted immediately in order to support both the country’s economic growth and energy security, both of which are prerequisites for sustained development.
NNPC Ltd.’s Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mele Kyari, told the Minister during the event that the refinery’s fuel plant will be delivered by the end of 2024.
According to the Nigerian business news publication, Nairametrics, “The NNPC had in February signed a $741 million maintenance service contract with a South Korean engineering firm, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Company Limited for a quick fix repair of Kaduna Refinery and Petroleum Company (KRPC).”
The publication also noted that “in October 2022, the state-owned oil company and Daewoo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to rehabilitate the 110, barrels per day Kaduna Refinery. Daewoo Group is also involved in ongoing rehabilitation works at the Warri refinery which is expected to start working by 2023.”
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had already authorized the restoration of the Warri and Kaduna refineries with a total of $1.4 billion in August 2021.
With a combined capacity of 210,000 barrels per day, the NNPC had already hired Italy’s Maire Tecnimont SpA, to renovate two of its refineries in the oil hub of Port Harcourt. The project was mainly financed by a $1 billion loan from the African Export-Import Bank (Afeximbank), which has its headquarters in Cairo.
Source:https://africa.businessinsider.com/