Mallam Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director at the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission (NNPC) has disclosed that the second phase rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery would commence in the first quarter of next year.Port Harcourt refinery
Addressing media parley with Energy Correspondents in Abuja the MD said, “I am happy to announce that the funding challenge which had stalled the second phase of the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery has been resolved and the contract for the implementation of the works will be awarded soon. The project should commence in Q1 2021.”
Revamping pipeline network
Kyari also disclosed that the company is in the process of strengthening the products distribution system by revamping its pipeline network through a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) model whose process is already at an advanced stage.
“NNPC’s vision of revamping the pipelines is in tandem with the Refineries Rehabilitation Project that aims to ensure that four refineries are up and running in the course of the next three years,” he explained.
Efforts to boost exploration and production
The GMD said that much had been put in place to boost oil exploration and production with an aim of raising national reserves to 40 billion barrels and daily production to 3 million.
“A number of disputes that hampered production activities such as the one involving Shell and Belema Oil that shut in over 30,000 barrels per day production in OML 25 have been resolved and we, therefore, expect an increase in production to meet the 3m barrels per day production target.
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The cooperation is also supporting private sector investors who are driving refinery projects across the country to promote local refining. This is with a view of attaining self-sufficiency in refining and transforming Nigeria into a net exporter of petroleum products according to Kyari.