NNPC Vows To Revive Nigeria’s Refineries

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has vowed to get the nation’s four refineries back to their optimal, working capacities.

Group Managing Director of the corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru made the promise at the weekend, shortly after receiving the Man of the Year Award from a Lagos-based daily.

According to a statement signed on Monday by the NNPC’s General Manager Public Affairs Division, Ndu Ughamadu, Baru said the corporation had been holding far-reaching discussions with some consortia to get the best funding options towards the refineries’ overhaul.

He added that the corporation, under his watch, had recorded remarkable progress in resuscitating some of the nation’s critical downstream infrastructure, a development which had ensured a seamless supply of products Nationwide, until the recent past hiccups which are now under control.

“Since coming on board, we have made the revamp of our abandoned assets and critical downstream infrastructure a key component of our corporate vision of 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFA),” he stated.

Dr. Baru said over the last few months, several crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas pipelines were resuscitated while more than half of the nation’s 21 strategic depots were also upgraded.

He, however, decried acts of pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and sabotage which he noted had resulted in huge loss of revenue, lives and property as well as damage to the environment.

The NNPC boss, therefore, called on the security agencies and other stakeholders nationwide to collaborate with the corporation in its on-going campaign against act of sabotage on the nation’s oil and gas facilities.

While attributing the recent fuel challenges faced in parts of the country to the nefarious acts of hoarders, diverters, profiteers and smugglers, Dr. Baru stressed that the corporation was working with relevant stakeholders to ensure the sufficiency currently witnessed nationwide is sustained.