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The Group Managing Director, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu had said, after scaling his ministerial screening that finally, the nation’s four refineries will be made to work. If this happens by December as being planned, then not only will Nigerians kiss goodbye to the perennial fuel shortages that bite harder during this period, but also significantly reduce the cycle of petroleum products importation and the attendant huge capital flight and subsidy claims.

Kachikwu gave the assurance that all the local refineries would have been re-streamed by the year end. According to him, this will displace massive fuel imports, cut huge import bills, reduce pressure on the nation’s lean foreign exchange earnings occasioned by the free fall in crude oil prices at the international market as well as create multiplier effects in the domestic economy.

He expressed confidence in the technical skills of the refineries workforce, saying that over 80 percent of the NNPC technical staff are competent. He cited the achievements of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, PHRC, at rehabilitating the plants as part of the potential available in the industry. While responding to legislators’ questions, Kachikwu gave a rundown of the Nigeria petroleum industry, and promised to drive an operations model that will place the Corporation on a performance platform that will guarantee commercial viability.

For the over one hour he was put to task, he gave a detailed explanation of a reform package that has been activated to re-inject vibrancy in the petroleum industry. He also disclosed of plans to enhance efficiency and transparency in the sector as well as restructure the national oil firm to be competitive across the full value chain of the industry. He equally promised to build local capacity across all the business units of the Corporation to enable it live up to the roles as the industry leader, government’s revenue earner, custodian of the nation’s petroleum assets and lead domestic fuel market supplier. He, however, noted that target objectives will remain only a dream except the operations of all the business arms of the Corporation are commercialised and profitable.

Using the refineries as an example, he said their new role is to operate as profit centres, reliable fuel sources as well as feedstock sources for ancillary businesses, particularly for the petrochemicals and industrial. At the Port Harcourt Refinery, for instance, he said the complex has become the reference for domestic technical ingenuity, internal innovation and revival model for sister refineries in Warri and Kaduna respectively.

Nigeria’s four refineries have combined capacity for 445,000 barrels crude oil processing per day, which produce about 18 million litres of the premium motor spirit, PMS or petrol. This product is highly prized in the country as one of the main fuel for transportation and light machines used by homes and small businesses.

However, the refineries have remained largely moribund for decades due to poor maintenance and wrong business models. The refineries are over 30 years and have not had a proper turn around maintenance, TAM, for over 15 years, as they relied on the NNPC for administrative and funding control, a system that slowed processes and denied them of financial independence.

But Kachikwu, who is tipped to become the junior but powerful Minister of Petroleum Resources, has reiterated that the new business model he activated in the system will dismantle all administrative and funding constraints in all the Corporation’s business units, especially the refineries. He added that this will enable them to leverage internal energies and competencies in optimising uptime at the plants