Chineme Okafor in Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is still negotiating the terms of funding for the revamp of its four refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri, with potential financiers, the corporation’s Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, has disclosed.
Baru, also stated that the NNPC would not stop at anything to get the four refineries back to their optimal nameplate refining capacities, adding that this was part of the business reforms the corporation has adopted in its 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFA) agenda.
A statement from NNPC’s Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja, stated that Baru, made the remark when he recently received an award in Lagos.
He explained that as part of the ongoing reforms in the NNPC, the corporation had been holding far-reaching discussions with some consortia to get the best funding options towards the refineries’ overhaul.
According to him, the NNPC had recorded remarkable progress in resuscitating some of its critical downstream infrastructure. He said this had also ensured seamless supply of petroleum products across the country until the recent interruptions he noted were 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),†said Baru, in the statement.
He stated that over the last few months, several crude oil, petroleum products and natural gas pipelines were resuscitated while more than half of NNPC’s 21 strategic depots were upgraded.
The GMD decried acts of pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and sabotage in the country, and explained they contribute to the huge loss of revenue the corporation records as well as loss of lives, properties and damages to the environment.
He thus called on security agencies in the country and other stakeholders to collaborate with the corporation in its on-going campaign against acts of sabotage on its facilities.
He reiterated that the recent petrol supply challenges the country went through were due to the nefarious acts of hoarding, diversions, profiteering and smuggling, stressing that NNPC was working with relevant stakeholders to ensure the sufficiency currently witnessed nationwide would be sustained.
Baru, indicated his appreciation of the award to him by NewsDirect, and commended the interest shown by the Nigerian media in reporting the oil and gas sector which he explained was critical to the country’s national economy.
