NNPC Plans To Revamp Refineries By January After Completion Of Integrity Test

Nigeria said it has set a January date for the full revamping of all its three state-owned refineries, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said.

NNPC chief executive, Mele Kyari said the company “will do everything possible between October and December” to make the projects possible.
Restoring state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna has been a long-sought, but elusive, goal for NNPC.
They have operated well under their 445,000 barrel-per-day capacity for years due to neglect, mismanagement and a lack of crude, leaving the oil-producing nation almost entirely reliant on imported fuel.
NNPC said all the refineries will operate at full capacity by 2022, but did not specify which companies would work on upgrades and repairs at Warri and Kaduna.
In March, Italian firm Maire Tecnimont won a $50 million contract to conduct a “complete integrity check” and inspect equipment at Port Harcourt, with Italian oil company ENI overseeing the work.
Tecnimont project manager La Mattina Carmelo, in the NNPC release, said the work was “progressing efficiently”, with the inspection nearly finished and the engineering, procurement, and construction proposal at 75% completion.
Kyari said in August that NNPC is considering both government and private funding, but that after the revamps third parties would maintain and operate the refineries to ensure reliable production.