…as NNPC GMD assures no fuel shortage till 2024
NOSA EGHAGHA
ABUJA Nigeria – President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has asked the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), to encourage creation of more modular refineries in the country.
More of these refineries, he said, will create more jobs for Nigerians, as well as improve national security.
He also advocated renovation of existing ones “to create a multiplier effect, which will include creation of jobs for our teeming youths, and more security for the country.”
Akpabio gave the admonition on Wednesday while meeting with the Group Managing Director of NNPCL, Mr. Mele Kyari, at the National Assembly, on the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which has ensured that “energy supply is stable, creating cheaper energy” for Nigerians.
He tasked the management of the NNPCL to seek ways of deepening the consumption of locally-produced petroleum products.
Akpabio assured that the Senate will do all to end oil theft and pipeline vandalisation which, according to him, was costing the nation revenue losses.
He also said the Upper Chamber would partner with the NNPCL in creating legislations that would smoothen ease of business for stakeholders in the oil and gas sector.
He lauded the Corporation for ensuring an end to the fuel subsidy regime while calling for capacity building for legislatures to ensure proper legislative input in the sector.
“Nigerians want to hear good news and you came with a very good news. And this is good news,” he added.
In his address, the Group Managing Director of NNPCL), Mele Kyari, said there will not be fuel queue in the country in the next three months .
He disclosed that the Corporation has “robust supply plants from now until next year; we have always planned for three months. And I guarantee you your Excellency that we will not see any shortages in our country.”
“You may see a number of scattered reports that of filling stations that people will call it qeues. They are not.”
Kyari revealed that the oil giant occupies over 30 percent of the downstream sector in the oil and gas business, adding that the Corporation will “optimally provide” petroleum to consumers.
Speaking on oil theft and pipeline vandalisation, Kyari said that the country has recovered up to N1.7 million barrels of crude oil following increases monitoring and supervision of the facilities by independent pipeline security companies, and the military.
He said “in the last 5-6 months government security agencies and private security companies have done things differently, and it has yielded results.”
He assured the leadership of the Senate that the NNPCL would restart the Port Harcourt refinery in December, followed by the Warri refinery to start in the first quarter of 2024.
He added that these would be complimented by small scale refineries, as he underscored that the Corporation has recorded a N274 million profit in 2021, a growth from 2018.
Accordingly, Kyari maintained that the NNPCL may post profit in excess of N2 trillion in 2023; adding that in 2024, Nigeria will be a net exporter of petroleum products.
