Reps Displeased over State of Refineries
- By Uchenna Kalu
- Published February 22nd, 2010
- News
- Unrated
HOUSE of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (downstream), led by Hon. Clever Ikisikpo has revealed its displeasure at the state of the refineries in Nigeria.
The committee members cut short their tour of the Kaduna Refinery after only visiting the Power Plant Unit, when it became clear that the refinery has not started refining any crude despite the 75 million dollar worth of Turn around Maintenance (TAM) done on it.
The Ikisikpo-led committee made its feeling known in the presence of Mr. Bolanle Ayodele, the Managing Director of the Refinery, , the Group General Manager, Dr. Levi Ajuonoma, Public Affairs, as well as Senator Sylvanus Engele, who came from the office of the minister of petroleum, and others. The House members insisted that the refinery has nothing to show for all the money expended on the seventh TAM.
Ikisikpo said, “I am aware that the Kaduna Refinery TAM is taking about 75 million dollars. I am also aware that the 6th Warri TAM is taking about 151.7 million dollars, the Port Harcourt 3rd TAM took about 137million dollars, all this are Nigerian money that has been pumped into TAM with respect to our refineries, but believe me, we cannot boast of anything at all and up to this time our importation rate is still 100 per cent. It is a worrisome problem and Nigerians are not happy.
“Take for instance, we are talking about scarcity of fuel, we have four refineries and everyday we see long queues and it is not good. That is why we are not happy with the management of NNPC. We are not happy with all who are working with these four refineries.
“We have four refineries and they all have workers there that are not producing and Nigerians continue to pay salary to those who are working in those refineries. It is a big loss and all of us are not happy.
Insisting that the refinery ought to have started working, the chairman lamented: “I am aware that the agreement for Kaduna refinery TAM was done on the 16th of April 2008.
“This refinery TAM is supposed to be completed by the end of March 2009 and this is 2010, over a year and we are still talking about TAM.” he noted, adding that the contractor, Robinson Onolehemhem from DKG-ITCC has to explain to them the reason for the delay in completing the Kaduna TAM.
Meanwhile the NNPC has revealed its strategy to sustain steady fuel supply in the country.
“About 10 vessels/shuttles have berthed and discharged 288 million litres of fuel, and over 1,135 trucks of fuel were loaded nationally by the Corporation and major marketers over the weekend,” a statement last week from Levi Ajuonuma, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation revealed.
Mr. Ajuonuma said the corporation is optimistic that with the completion of the Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM) of the Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries and resumption of crude supply to the refineries, “the days of several man hour loss on queues in filling stations would be over.” He said that the NNPC has also gone ahead to mobilise all its reception depots to push out as many trucks as are available to overcome the queues challenge in filling stations across the country.
The NNPC commended the Independent Petroleum Marketing Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for its resolve to partner with the Corporation in putting an end to fuel queues in the country and called on other stakeholders of the downstream sector of the industry to follow suit.
Tokunbo Korodo, the Lagos zonal chairman, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) confirmed to the media on the telephone: “The situation has improved drastically.
Unlike before when we were loading between 30 and 50 trucks daily, now all the depots load over a hundred trucks daily. We even encourage our truck drivers to do over-night shifts and they’ve been complying. There is enough fuel at the depot... if the NNPC had been supplying products like this; there won’t be scarcity in the first place.” Downstream deregulation.
Addressing members of the War Room, a special committee set up by the ministry of petroleum Resources to find lasting solution to the lingering fuel crises last week in Abuja, Emmanuel Egbogah, the special adviser to the president on petroleum matters, said, “The sure way out of the present logjam in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry is for the sector to be deregulated in order to guarantee a level playing field for all players in the industry.”
The committee members cut short their tour of the Kaduna Refinery after only visiting the Power Plant Unit, when it became clear that the refinery has not started refining any crude despite the 75 million dollar worth of Turn around Maintenance (TAM) done on it.
The Ikisikpo-led committee made its feeling known in the presence of Mr. Bolanle Ayodele, the Managing Director of the Refinery, , the Group General Manager, Dr. Levi Ajuonoma, Public Affairs, as well as Senator Sylvanus Engele, who came from the office of the minister of petroleum, and others. The House members insisted that the refinery has nothing to show for all the money expended on the seventh TAM.
Ikisikpo said, “I am aware that the Kaduna Refinery TAM is taking about 75 million dollars. I am also aware that the 6th Warri TAM is taking about 151.7 million dollars, the Port Harcourt 3rd TAM took about 137million dollars, all this are Nigerian money that has been pumped into TAM with respect to our refineries, but believe me, we cannot boast of anything at all and up to this time our importation rate is still 100 per cent. It is a worrisome problem and Nigerians are not happy.
“Take for instance, we are talking about scarcity of fuel, we have four refineries and everyday we see long queues and it is not good. That is why we are not happy with the management of NNPC. We are not happy with all who are working with these four refineries.
“We have four refineries and they all have workers there that are not producing and Nigerians continue to pay salary to those who are working in those refineries. It is a big loss and all of us are not happy.
Insisting that the refinery ought to have started working, the chairman lamented: “I am aware that the agreement for Kaduna refinery TAM was done on the 16th of April 2008.
“This refinery TAM is supposed to be completed by the end of March 2009 and this is 2010, over a year and we are still talking about TAM.” he noted, adding that the contractor, Robinson Onolehemhem from DKG-ITCC has to explain to them the reason for the delay in completing the Kaduna TAM.
Meanwhile the NNPC has revealed its strategy to sustain steady fuel supply in the country.
“About 10 vessels/shuttles have berthed and discharged 288 million litres of fuel, and over 1,135 trucks of fuel were loaded nationally by the Corporation and major marketers over the weekend,” a statement last week from Levi Ajuonuma, the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the corporation revealed.
Mr. Ajuonuma said the corporation is optimistic that with the completion of the Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM) of the Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries and resumption of crude supply to the refineries, “the days of several man hour loss on queues in filling stations would be over.” He said that the NNPC has also gone ahead to mobilise all its reception depots to push out as many trucks as are available to overcome the queues challenge in filling stations across the country.
The NNPC commended the Independent Petroleum Marketing Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) for its resolve to partner with the Corporation in putting an end to fuel queues in the country and called on other stakeholders of the downstream sector of the industry to follow suit.
Tokunbo Korodo, the Lagos zonal chairman, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) confirmed to the media on the telephone: “The situation has improved drastically.
Unlike before when we were loading between 30 and 50 trucks daily, now all the depots load over a hundred trucks daily. We even encourage our truck drivers to do over-night shifts and they’ve been complying. There is enough fuel at the depot... if the NNPC had been supplying products like this; there won’t be scarcity in the first place.” Downstream deregulation.
Addressing members of the War Room, a special committee set up by the ministry of petroleum Resources to find lasting solution to the lingering fuel crises last week in Abuja, Emmanuel Egbogah, the special adviser to the president on petroleum matters, said, “The sure way out of the present logjam in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry is for the sector to be deregulated in order to guarantee a level playing field for all players in the industry.”
