31 March 2010
Lagos — The nation's domestic refineries, including the moribund Kaduna Refinery, have been brought back on stream to help address the recurrent scarcity of petroleum products in the domestic market.
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo stated that the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) Ltd, one of the crude processing subsidiaries of the corporation has started contributing 1.5 million litres of fuel daily.
The input from the Kaduna Refinery into the market, he said, became possible after its turnaround maintenance which, he added, was executed within budget.
Dr. Barkindo disclosed to members of House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream) that the completion of the turnaround maintenance of the three refineries in the country has helped the corporation to address the fuel supply and distribution challenge in the country.
He decried the incessant vandalism on the nation's pipelines saying that the security of these pipelines are of national importance and urged the Committee to seek for a technology that would monitor the pipelines.
Dr. Barkindo implored the National Assembly to expeditiously pass the Petroleum Industry Bill into law saying that its passage would create an enabling environment for the deregulation of
the downstream sector of the petroleum industry which would ease the present fuel supply and distribution burden on the corporation.
"We at the NNPC would continue to do the best we can to ensure that fuel supply and distribution reaches every nook and cranny of this country until the passage of the PIB but I must confess to you that the current situation is not sustainable considering the huge cost borne by the Corporation," Dr. Barkindo asserted.
He stated that the PIB if passed would go a long way in resolving some of the structural difficulties being experienced by the corporation in running some of the refineries noting that as an appendage of government, most of them operate as cost centers.
Dr. Barkindo submitted that as part of efforts to solve the lingering fuel supply and distribution challenge, the Corporation convened a stakeholders forum involving key players in the downstream sector of the petroleum industry in Lagos where all stakeholders resolved to collaborate with the NNPC to ensure efficient fuel supply and distribution in the country.
He reported that the corporation formed the 'War Room' in its attempt to completely eradicate fuel queues from Lagos and Abuja initially and later other parts of the country and within three days the task force was able to minimize fuel queues.
He also appealed to the legislators to act as champions of the proposed reform agenda of the petroleum sector by educating other members of the house on the import of the bill and pressurize the executive arm of government to speedily implement the deregulation policy.
Responding, the Chairman, House of Representative committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Hon. Clever Ikisipko assured the NNPC of his committee's readiness to support the passage of the PIB adding that with the briefing by the GMD his committee would submit its report to the house and called for regular interactions between the committee and the corporation.
No comments:
Post a Comment