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Tag: refineries

  • FG’s Niger Delta peace initiative boosts refineries’ production – NNPC

    FG’s Niger Delta peace initiative boosts refineries’ production – NNPC

    The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, says Federal Government’s peace initiative in the Niger Delta has raised production of Nigeria’s three refineries.

    In a statement released in Abuja on Tuesday by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, Baru said this during an interactive session with a delegation from the UK Royal College of Defence Studies.

    According to him, refining activities peaked at 10 million barrels of crude oil in the first quarter of 2017 alone as against eight million and 24 million barrels for the entire years of 2015 and 2016 respectively.

    Baru, who was represented at the event by the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Mr Saidu Mohammed, said apart from the upbeat in the refineries activities attributable to the peace initiative, which has lowered the rate of attacks on oil installations, the corporation has recorded an increase in crude oil production to two million barrels per day in recent time.

    ”As a nation, we have tried all available options, including military, to tackle the security challenge. We have discovered that guns are not as effective as the engagement option.

    ”The peace we are enjoying now is as a result of the engagement with stakeholders in the region led by the Acting President. We intend to build on that to achieve lasting peace”, Baru said.

    He said with the respite in the region, the NNPC would do all it could to build on the gains of the Federal Government to deepen and sustain the peace.

    Speaking earlier, the team leader of the UK Royal College of Defence Studies delegation, Maj. Gen. Craig Lawrence, said the group was in NNPC to learn how the corporation was generating wealth and prosperity for the country in the face of daunting challenges.

    He thanked the management of NNPC for sparing the time to explain to the delegation the workings of the corporation.

    Members of the delegation included United Kingdom, France, Pakistan, and Thailand nationals, among others.

     

     

    NAN

     

  • Nigeria’s 3 refineries performed below 15% in 2016 — NNPC

     

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said the consolidated operational performance of Nigeria’s three refineries based on their capacity utilisation was below 15 per cent in 2016.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the three refineries are the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company located in Delta State, Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State, and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company in Kaduna State.

    The facilities got 445,000 barrels of crude oil on a daily basis for the 12-month period, but refined less than 15 per cent of this volume on average

    Specifically, the NNPC stated that the combined capacity utilisation of the plants from January to December last year was 13.75 per cent.

    Their worst performance was recorded in February, after they recorded a capacity utilisation of 1.72 per cent for the month, the national oil firm said.

    It stated that the refineries’ best operational delivery with respect to crude refining was in October as they posted a capacity utilisation of 23.53 per cent.

    On individual performance, an analysis of the NNPC’s latest report showed that the WRPC was dormant for five months last year as it did not refine or process a drop of crude oil in January, February, July, November and December.

    Similarly, the KRPC was dormant for six months in 2016; it failed to process any crude oil in February, March, June, July, November and December.

    Only the PHRC was able to process crude oil for 11 months in 2016. It did not process crude oil in September last year.

    The NNPC stated that the total crude processed by the three local refineries for December 2016 was 141,998 metric tonnes (1,041,129 barrels).

    This, it said, translated to a combined yield efficiency of 82.44 per cent compared to crude processed in November 2016 of 232,768MT (1,706,655 barrels), which translated to a combined yield efficiency of 87.08 per cent.

    It said, “For the month of December 2016, the three refineries produced 121,555MT of finished petroleum products out of 141,998MT of crude processed at a combined capacity utilisation of 7.55 per cent compared to 12.78 per cent combined capacity utilisation achieved in the month of November 2016.

    “The adverse performance was due to crude pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region coupled with ongoing refineries revamp. However, the three refineries continue to operate at minimal capacity. Only the PHRC processed crude during the month of December 2016.”

    Commenting on the development, the Director, Emerald Energy Institute, University of Port Harcourt, Prof. Wumi Iledare, told our correspondent that the oil and gas sector needed to be restructured in order to enhance not just the output of refineries but that of the industry as a whole.

    Iledare noted that the governance structure of the sector was weak and that this had permeated virtually all the facets of the oil and gas industry, adding that a functional regulatory framework should be put in place.

    He urged the Federal Government to seek the inputs of professionals, as well as train operators manning key positions in the industry in order to get the best from them and boost the performance of the sector.

     

     

  • Navy destroys 40 illegal refineries in Delta

    Navy destroys 40 illegal refineries in Delta

    The Commander of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS), Delta Command, Commodore Ibrahim Dewu, on Thursday said more than 40 illegal refineries and over one million metric tonnes of products suspected to be crude oil have been destroyed.

    Dewu disclosed this to newsmen at the Warri Naval Base shortly after the operation.

    He said the illegal refineries and illegally refined products were discovered and destroyed in Jones Creek, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta.

    The Commander also said three suspects were apprehended during the course of the raid.

    “What we saw today is really far beyond comprehension because for just one camp we discovered over 40 illegal refineries.

    “The quantity of the product in the tanks and those flowing on the ground was much. We discovered over 200 tanks, carrying over 10,000 litres each.

    “Those products were boiling, meaning the refineries were fully operating by the time we got there.

    “Most of the suspects escaped as they saw us coming, but we apprehended about three of them and they are currently with us.

    “I am sending a message to the communities that we are equal to our task. The Chief of Naval Staff has given us this mandate.

    “ We are going to sustain these operations to enable us stop these illegal activities within the creeks,’’ he said.

    According to him, the activities of the hoodlums are affecting aquatic life in the area.

    The raid came barely 24 hours after the Chief of Naval Staff , Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas launched “Operation Tsare Teku IV’’ to combat criminals operating in the country’s coastal region of the Niger Delta.

    Dewu said “Operation Eagle Eyes’’ and phase two of “Operation River Sweep’’ of the Nigerian Navy anti-piracy operation were ongoing.

  • P-Harcourt, Kaduna, Warri refineries resume kerosene, diesel production

    Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, yesterday, announced that the Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri refineries had resumed production of Dual Purpose Kerosene, DPK, and Automotive Gas Oil, AGO, otherwise known as kerosene and diesel respectively.

    Similarly, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, blamed the current scarcity and high cost of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, nationwide on the inability of its LPG vessel to berth and discharge its contents at the Apapa ports since December 29, 2016, due to congestion of the port facility.

    The NNPC, in a statement in Abuja, disclosed that the refineries started producing both commodities since Saturday, and were currently producing more than six million litres of kerosene and seven million litres of diesel on a daily basis.

    According to the NNPC, the resumption of refining of AGO and DPK was expected to balance the disequilibrium in demand and supply of the products being experienced in parts of the country.

    Speaking on the production level of the Warri refinery, Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, WRPC, Mr. Solomon Ladenegan, said the plant had been doing well since the Crude Distillation Unit, CDU, was revved up on Saturday, January 7, 2017.

    He explained that the refinery resumed production Saturday at about 10:22hours, with the plant’s CDU functioning, saying that the plant now refine two million litres of kerosene and three million litres of diesel daily.

    According to him: “This morning (yesterday), we have pumped the products to PPMC and they have started loading. They are going to load up to one million litres of DPK and AGO. The products are there in the tank and we are doing everything to get them to the market.”

    In the same vein, Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, PHRC, Mr. Bafred Enjugu, said the Port Harcourt refinery was producing three million litres of AGO daily, in addition to millions of DPK being churned out by the refinery daily.

    Enjugu explained that the company’s operators were thrilled having rehabilitated the old Port Harcourt refinery where the production of AGO was being carried out by themselves without the deployment of foreign expertise.

    Furthermore, the NNPC also stated that the Kaduna Refinery had roared into action, producing millions of litres products to ease out the situation in supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.

    Meanwhile, the NLNG, in a statement by its General Manager, External Relations, Kudo Eresia-Eke said: “For instance, NLNG’s dedicated LPG vessel has been unable to discharge LPG at the Apapa port since 29th December 2016 due to jetty unavailability, resulting in temporary product shortages in the market. Nigeria LNG’s domestic LPG price is based on an international price index plus 50 per cent of the shipping cost of delivering the product to receiving facilities in Apapa-Lagos. That price is invoiced in Naira at the prevailing official interbank exchange rates, contrary to erroneous assertions.

    “The reality of this is that although LPG is produced and consumed locally, the product like crude oil is an internationally traded commodity with an international price benchmark, open to global demand and supply pressures.

    “NLNG however softens the impact of price variations by continuing to subsidise the cost of transporting about 40 per cent of total domestic market share which it supplies from its production facility on Bonny Island.”

  • ‘Refineries to work in full capacity by 2017’

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Tuesday, said it would rehabilitate the three local refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna to achieve optimal capacity utilization in 2017.

    In a statement signed by Mr Ndu Ughamadu, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division (NNPC) in Abuja, the Chief Operating Officer, Refineries of the NNPC, Mr. Anibor Kragha, stated that the Corporation was determined to move away from the approach of quick fixes and undertake a comprehensive revamp of the plants.

    “The plan for next year is to get the comprehensive rehabilitation programme done. “The situation is like having three cars in your garage that have not been maintained for 15 to 20 years while you expect optimal performance from them.

    “Changing one fuel pump here, one compressor there is not helpful. What we are doing now is to step back and take a holistic approach and do a full rehabilitation of all the refineries.” he said

    He added that once the exercise was achieved, the refineries in due course would draw up a chart for routine Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) Programme as and when due.

    Kragha explained that though the plan was still on course, none of the projected co-location refineries would come on stream in 2017 based on existing timeline for assemblage of the plants.

    ‘’We are very close; we have done tests with some of the key marketers. We have achieved all the parameters, we just want to be 110 percent certain,’’ he said.

    Meanwhile, Managing Director of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company, Mr. Mukhtar Maiha, said KRPC was working towards a target of 75 per cent capacity utilization in the New Year based on projected supply of one cargo of crude oil per month.