The Senate on Tuesday resolved to invite the Minister of
Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the Nigeria
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kolo Kyari, over the
status of refineries in the country.
The upper chamber mandated its Petroleum Committee (Downstream
and Upstream) when constituted, to invite the minister and NNPC GMD
to brief it on the status of existing refineries, including the
status of newly licensed modular refineries in the country.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion on “Existing
Petroleum Subsidy: Ensuring Self -Sufficiency in Domestic Refining
of Petroleum Products,” sponsored by Senator Rose Oko and 42
others.
In her lead debate Oko noted that although Nigeria produces 1.7
million barrels of crude oil per day, its moribund refineries had
very little refining capacity.
The Cross River North Senator said that the country imports
roughly 90 per cent of its fuel which negates much of the benefits
accruing to oil producing countries from high crude prices.
She lamented that despite the resources spent on turn around
maintenance, none of the NNPC’s four refineries functions up to 50
per cent of their combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day.
Oko noted that the objective of modular refineries was to
overcome the huge capital requirement that impedes establishment
and maintenance of large scale refineries.
According to her, this would ensure self-sufficiency in the
production and supply of petroleum products.
Oko said that data from the Department of Petroleum Resources
(DPR) website indicated that a total of 633,000 barrels per day
refining capacity had already been lost due to the expiration of
licenses of both conventional and modular refinery projects.
The country, she said, introduced petroleum subsidy in the 1980s
as a measure to strengthen local refining industry and improve
product affordability and domestic consumption.
She noted that successive administrations had failed to make the
country self-sufficient in domestic production.
Oko said that despite the dire need for the country to exit
petroleum importation and subsidy, there was neither a
comprehensive plan to ensure its actualization in the nearest
future.
According to her, there was no form of technical and financial
aid for refinery license holders to ensure that the refineries
become optimally operational.
Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, in his remarks, said that the
motion was designed to ensure that the 43 licensed modular
refineries become operational.
Lawan noted that there was the need to support the refineries to
become active and functional.
The Senate President assured that the Senate would make it a
point of duty to ensure the establishment of the modular
refineries.
Lawan said the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) was also key to the
optimal utilisation of the refineries and the emergence of the
modular refineries.
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