FUEL IMPORTS GULP N958.3 BILLION IN FIVE MONTHS

Nigeria spent N958.3 billion importing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, in five months. The amount could build five 20,000-barrels-per-day mini refineries, industry experts, who argued that one of such refineries would cost government between $75 million and $250 million, said yesterday. In naira terms, higher expenditure on petrol imports gives impression of worsening foreign exchange position for the country and emphasizes the need to activate the country’s four idle refineries, Francis Ogbimi, a Professor of Technology Management at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife said.

Read more @ The Guardian Online

KACHIKWU SIGNS $80BN OIL AND GAS INFRASTRUCTURE DEALS IN CHINA

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with several Chinese firms for over $80 billion new investments, spanning five years, in the oil and gas industry covering pipelines, refineries, gas and power, facility refurbishments and upstream financing.

 

Speaking exclusively to THISDAY yesterday from Beijing, China, Kachikwu said the agreements had been executed during the three-day roadshow in the Asian country to attract investments to Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

$17BN GAS PIPELINE IN LAGOS WILL PROVIDE UNHINDERED PETROL- DANGOTE

Africa’s richest man and owner of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote has said that ongoing $17 billion Gas pipeline, fertiliser, petrochemicals and refineries project at the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ), Lagos, would provide unhindered availability of petrol in the country. He pointed out the the Gas pipeline when completed would also generate power for the country.

Read more @ Vanguard

WARRI, KADUNA REFINERIES POST LOSSES, P’HARCOURT MAKES N5.18BN

Latest figures from the oil and gas industry have shown that at the close of business in April, two of the country’s three refineries posted losses, while the other succeeded in making a profit despite the attacks on oil installations by militants.

 

Since February this year, militant groups in the Niger Delta region have increased the attacks on oil installations, a development that has reduced the country’s crude production to around one million barrels per day from over 2.2mbpd.

 

Read more @ The Punch

MILITANTS BLAST ANOTHER PIPELINE IN WARRI, SEEK INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR SELF DETERMINATION

Niger Delta militants last night blew up another pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), at Chanomi Creeks in Warri South West Local Government Area of Delta State.

 

Security sources told THISDAY that the militants stormed the facility in two fast boats at about 7.45 pm and used dynamite to blow up the crude oil pipeline at Kurutie. The pipeline, it was learnt, supplies crude oil to Warri and Kaduna Refineries.

Read more @ Thisdaylive

NNPC LIFTS N1.2 TRILLION CRUDE OIL IN 12 MONTHS

The value of the domestic crude oil purchased by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) between April 2015 and April 2016 was $1.8 billion (N1.2 trillion).

Besides, the combined value of output by the three refineries (at import parity price) for the month of April 2016 amounted to ₦28.57 billion while the associated crude plus freight cost was ₦21.57 billion, giving a positive margin of ₦1.30 billion after considering overhead of ₦5.70 billion.

Read more @ The Guardian

MARKETERS EYE REFINERY INVESTMENT, SEEK FULL DEREGULATION

Major oil marketers are considering investment in refineries, describing the recent hike in petrol price as the boldest attempt at the deregulation of the nation’s downstream sector.

 

The Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, who disclosed this in Lagos, said the pump price of petrol would drop if the new policy is allowed to stay.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

STOP OUTSOURCING OF REFINERIES, REPS TELL NNPC

The House committee chaired by Hon. Ahmed Yerima (Bauchi APC) at its sitting wednesday accused the NNPC of acting unilaterally without consulting other stakeholders on its proposed outsourcing of the refineries, saying the NNPC had violated section 11 of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) Act 2009.

 

Although the committee was miffed by the absence of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who was represented by the Group Executive Director for Refineries, Mr. Anibor Kragba, it, however, commenced its enquiry into the proposed outsourcing following the executive director’s assurance that he had the minister’s mandate and was, therefore, competent to handle any question on the refineries.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

PARADOX OF A DEREGULATION REGIME IN A SHRINKING ECONOMY

Notwithstanding the pains being elicited by the deregulation policy of the Federal Government, major stakeholders in the petroleum sector have maintained that the new era would completely eradicate the recurrent fuel queues and spur more investments in refineries and retail businesses.

Already, the organized labour has begun to mobilise for what it described the ‘mother of all strikes’ and Nigerians are irked to witness the replication of the struggle experienced in 2012, which almost grounded the entire nation.

Read more @ The Guardian

KACHIKWU PROMISES MORE REFINERIES

As part of strategies to end the fuel crisis, new refineries will soon be built, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said yesterday.

The new refineries, when fully operational, will enable Nigeria to export petroleum resources to other countries, he affirmed. Kachikwu spoke at a town hall meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Information in Kaduna.

Read more @ The Guardain

VP, DICKSON, KACHIKWU MEET OVER RENEWED MILITANT’S ATTACKS ON PIPELINES

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday held two separate meetings ‎over the recent blowing up of pipelines conveying crude oil and gas and threatening the operations of two of the nation’s refineries and power plants.

The militants had attacked Chevron’s Okan offshore production platform around Escravos in Warri, Delta State, a development that led to the shutdown of the facility by the oil major.

Read more @ The Guardian

‘INDIGENOUS FIRMS HAVE CAPACITY FOR ONSHORE OIL REFINING’

Indigenous oil firms have the capacity to build and operate onshore oil refineries in the country, the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), has said.

Chairman of PETAN, Bank Anthony Okoroafor, stated this in a paper titled: “Exploring Nigerian Content in the Development of Modular Refineries made available to The Guardian on Wednesday.

Read more @ The Guardian

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM GREETS NNPC’S PROPOSED PARTNERSHIP FOR REFINERIES

Analysts say NNPC’s move to engage investors as joint venture technical partners for the rehabilitation and operations of its three refineries while a good move, requires proper scrutiny. In tender published in major newspapers, the national oil firm said the partners will fund, rehabilitate and jointly “operate the 210,000-barrel-per-day Port Harcourt refinery among others.

Read more @ Businessday

NNPC TARGETS 650,000BPD REFINING CAPACITY, OPENS BIDS FOR CO-LOCATION OF PLANTS

In its bid to reduce fuel importation in the foreseeable future, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that nine companies have submitted bids for the co-location of new refineries within the complexes of its three existing refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.

This is just at the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has clarified that he never informed the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) last Tuesday that the fuel shortages will end between April 5 and 7, but assured THISDAY in a phone conversation that concrete measures had but put in place to end them soon.

 

Read more @ Thisdaylive

REFINERIES RECORD FIRST PROFIT IN 12 MONTHS

Nigeria’s three refineries, for the first time since February 2015, were able to make profit at the close of business in January this year, latest figures from the financial and operations report of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have shown.

 

The report showed that the refineries recorded losses consecutively from February last year up till December; but in January 2016, they made an operating profit of N5.67bn

 

Read more @ Punch Online

FG SUMMONS 23 MODULAR REFINERIES LICENSEES FOR STATUS REPORT

The Federal Government has summoned 23 companies licensed to establish (LTE) Modular Refineries, to report on progress made so far, BusinessDay investigation has revealed.

Licensing modular refineries is part of government’s efforts to get crude oil refined locally in-country, so as to reduce dependence on imported petroleum products and cut cost. 

Read more @ Businessday

PH, WARRI, KADUNA REFINERIES MAY BECOME OBSOLETE BY 2018

Nigeria’s refineries will soon be faced with extinction if they are not immediately upgraded in the face of impending competition from emerging ones, studies carried out on the country’s refineries, pipelines and depots indicate.

Read more @ BusinessDayNg

NNPC RAISES FUEL IMPORT, AS KADUNA, P’HARCOURT REFINERIES REMAIN SHUT

To close the gap created by the shutdown of Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has embarked on a massive importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
Also, major and independent petroleum marketers have continued to import PMS into the country despite the absence of subsidy in the 2016 budget.

Read more @ The Guardian

N470M LOST DAILY TO GAS PIPELINE ATTACKS –FG

Last weekend’s attack on the Nigeria Gas Company’s pipeline connected to Chevron Nigeria Limited’s facility at Escravos in Delta State is costing the economy a daily loss of N470m and has also resulted in the shutdown of two of the country’s refineries.

 

According to the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, the vandalism of the gas pipeline would impact negatively on the Olorunsogo National Integrated Power Project plant, which has capacity for 600 megawatts of electricity, and other power plants across the country.

 

Read more @ Punch Online

OIL WORKERS, MARKETERS TANGLING OVER REFINERIES’ SALE

Good news came from the four refineries in Nigeria last Tuesday: the installation gave the country a cumulative fuel supply of 6.76 million litres at a time the Africa’s biggest crude exporter was battling with fuel scarcity.

Before this, the oil workers and independent marketers had bickered over how to sell the refineries. This is not the first time that the proposed sale of refineries would generate controversy between the workers and marketers even as the duo appear set to quash any impediment on the way of their positions.

Read more @ New Telegraph