*Says Nigeria Will Stop Petrol Import From Mid-2023
*Says Churches, Mosques Harbouring Stolen Crude Oil Products
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The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Mele Kyari has explained why the Federal Government awarded the controversial pipelines surveillance contract to a former Niger Delta agitator, Government Ekpemupolo also known as Tompolo.
Kyari clarified that the contract was not awarded to Tompolo as a person but to a company he has interests in.
He spoke during the weekly Ministerial Briefing, hosted by the Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa.
He explained that it was not the first time that individuals within the Niger Delta region were awarded a contract for pipeline surveillance, noting that the contract was for the interest of the people.
He said it was his belief that the Federal Government has taken the right decision to hire private contractors to man its oil pipeline network nationwide.
Kyari argued that although the security agencies are doing their part, end-to-end pipeline surveillance would require the involvement of private entities and community stakeholders.
“What we did is to do three things. First, to ensure the government’s security agencies play their part, we have our Navy, the Army and are doing an excellent job of containing this, but as you do this sustenance is everything and therefore we also decided that we need private contractors to man the right of way and also operate outside the right of way so that they can also join us to manage members of the community
“We don’t have access to that and therefore, we put up a framework where contractors were selected through a tender process for people who can do it, not everyone can do it and Tompolo is just mentioned, we’re dealing with corporate entities.
“He may have interest in the company, we’re not dealing with Tompolo, but we know that he has interests in that company. We know that we’re engaging all other individuals who will be of help to us in this situation. This has happened severally over time and the end result was that it was contained under a process like this and we believe that we are taking the right decision,” he explained.
He also said with the expected completion of the ongoing maintenance of the nation’s refineries and the almost completed Dangote Refinery, Nigeria will no longer import refined products from mid-2023, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, has stated.
He also revealed that the NNPC shut pipelines down for inability to meet production cost due to losses.
Kyari, who spoke during the weekly Ministerial Briefing, hosted by the Presidential Communication Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, also said that the phenomenon of oil theft had permeated the entire society, which now has even churches and mosques as tapping points by oil thieves.
Speaking on achieving an end to petroleum products’ importation by middle of 2023, the oil chief revealed that a combination of products from the national refineries, which are currently being refurbished and will be ready next year, and the products from the Dangote Refinery, in which Nigeria has a 20% stake, Nigeria should meet domestic needs, without any need for importation from mid-2023.
“NNPC owns 20% equity in the Dangote refinery and not only that, and we’re very proud of this. We’re not only owning 20% equity, we have the first right of refusal to supply crude oil to that plant. But we saw this energy transition challenge coming we knew at that time will come when you will look for people who will buy your crude oil you will not find and that means that we have locked down ability to sell crude oil for 330,000 barrels minimum by right for the next 20 years.
“Also, by right also we have access to 20% of the production from that plant. That means that whatever it does, you know we have a right to take 20% of that production as part of our equity and this refinery will come on stream by latest by the mid of next year.
“Projection is first quarter, but we think that it can come up latest by the middle of next year. If it does, this refinery alone, because it has a 650,000 per barrel capacity and different technology, means that it can crack the crude in a manner that you can have more gasoline than a typical refinery.
“That means that the refinery has the ability to produce up to 50 million litres of PMS. So, the combination of that and our own ability to bring back our refinery will completely eliminate any potential petroleum product into this country next year. You will not see any importation to into this country next year. This is very practical. This is possible.
“As a matter of fact, when we’re done with our refineries and the Dangote Refinery, very many small initiatives that we are doing; small, modular, condenser refineries that we’re building, if that happens, and we are very optimistic it will happen.
“You will see that this country will now be a net exporter, we hope of export of petroleum products, not just to the west African sub-region, but to the rest of the world. This will happen, and the flow of supply will change – by the middle of next year, it will change. So, you will have no need for the importation of petroleum products into this country by the middle of next year,” Kyari said.
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