Oil and Gas industry news

Acting president, Yemi Osinbajo, says refineries in the country have not lived up to expectations because they are government-owned. Osinbajo made this statement in Abuja on Thursday while speaking at the 2017 African Modular Refinery Discussion organised by the Modular Refiners Association of Nigeria (MRAN). The acting president said the government should be creating an enabling environment for business not setting up refineries. “Government cannot just go and be setting up refineries. If government sets up refineries and uses its people to run it, it won’t work. We have good examples in all the refineries that we have seen,” he said. “If you look at the refineries we have today – Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna – the primary reason they are not working today is because they are government run. “Government cannot do business. Government’s business is to create the enabling environment for business. And then government would put some investment into it. “Government should not be i...

An Indonesian firm, PT Intim Perkasa Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of PT Intim Perkasa, Indonesia, on wednesday, indicated interest to build a modular refinery in Nigeria. According to a statement by the NNPC, Mr. Adi Hartadi, Head of Investor Relations of PTPP (Persero) Tbk, partners to PT Intim Perkasa Nigeria Limited, disclosed this in Abuja during a business meeting with the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru. He stated that the refinery, a modular one, will have a refining capacity of 10,000 barrels per stream day and would be located in Akwa Ibom State. Hartadi stated that the company has more than 50 years of experience in construction and engineering and it was desirous of diversifying into downstream operations in Nigeria. In his response, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mr. Maikanti Baru, stated that NNPC placed a high premium on investment in the nation’s refining sector. Baru who was represented by the Chief Operating Officer (COO), R...

The termination of the construction of a modular refinery in Akwa Ibom state by Hi Rev Exploration and Production Company is sending conflicting signals to the oil and gas sector. It concerns the position of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to frustrate the building of modular refineries in the Niger Delta to compete with its existing three refineries. Curiously, the memo which was written by the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, dated 20th December 2016, was read, approved and signed personally by President Muhammadu Buhari same day. Additionally, a letter conveying the President’s approval of the NNPC request was also written by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari on the same 20th December 2016. The letter had reference number: PRES/158/NNPC/38.  Abba Kyari is a member of the NNPC Board. The Baru’s memo titled, ‘Restoration of OML 13 to NPDC’, which was obtained by The Guardian in Abuja, said the revocation was sought be...

The Federal Government on Tuesday May 2, 2017 reiterated its commitment to build modular refineries in oil-producing areas of the Niger Delta. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, made the commitment as part of efforts to woo businessmen at the offshore technology conference holding in Houston, United States. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had on March 25 assured that the proposed modular refineries would be sited only in oil-producing areas as part of measures to address the developmental challenges in the area. “Now that the Vice-President has visited the area, I will go round and make a workable plan to kick-start the modular refineries, we need to move away from state-ism to a pan-Nigerian development. “We have to boost local refinery. The concept of producing crude and selling it off barrel per barrel is some policy we have to look at. “I hate to sit over a ministry where we can’t be self-sustaining. The Niger Delta has shown that it can cooperate and en...

The Federal Government’s plan to establish modular refineries in oil producing areas has received a boost with a leading United States modular refinery investor, Missouri American Energy, Moham, setting aside $200 million for the take-off of Nigeria’s first modular refinery with 20,000 barrels per day production capacity in Gbaramatu Kingdom, Warri South-West Local Government Area, Delta State. President of Missouri American Energy, Mohan, Mr Henry Iwenofu, who led a delegation of the company’s top officials, including the local promoters, to Abuja, told the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, that $200 million  budgeted by the company for the fabrication and installation of Gbaramatu Modular Refinery, GMR, components in the United States and Nigeria was in one piece.  Another $200 million, he disclosed, was available for infrastructural development, adding: “All Missouri American Energy Mohan needed is a friendly business environment with government policie...

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has commenced move to attract 20 companies to make substantial investment worth $20 billion in order to meet the Federal Government’s target of increasing refining capacity in the country. Investigations showed that the Apex Oil Corporation has, in the past few weeks, been engaging with the investors in order to inform, educate as well as assist them to prepare various packages required in the process of applying for a licence.  On completion of the engagement, the promoters of the modular refineries would be equipped with vital knowledge to submit their applications to the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, that is vested with the responsibility of issuing such licenses.  Confirming the development on the sideline of a forum on modular refinery in Lagos, General Manager, Refining Directorate, Mr. Ahmed Danlade, who is involved in the process, disclosed that the NNPC decided to play the role in order to guide potent...

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu has reiterated Federal Government’s resolve to reduce importation of petroleum products from the present 95 per cent to 60 per cent by 2018. Kachikwu stated this at the Rainoil 20th Anniversary Lecture organised by the company in Lagos on Wednesday. The theme of the anniversary was: “The Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry: Opportunities, Challenges and Prospects of the Downstream Sector”. The minister of state said that with the proposed construction of modular refineries in the Niger Delta and more investments in the sector, the importation of refined products would be reduced to 60 per cent by 2018. According to him, the country will start exporting refined products with the commencement of Dangote Refinery in 2019. “The nation is at the turning point where the downstream industry is more critical than ever and will drive the economy. “Currently, the NNPC imports over 95 per cent of petroleum products owing...