SAN FRANCISCO, September 13, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has set up eight committees with the task of returning the three public refineries in the country to their installed capacities by 2019 in line with the presidential mandate of rehabilitating the three refineries.
NNPC spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, said in a statement on Wednesday, that the Corporation’s Group Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, charged the committees to deploy “out of the box solutions” to ensure that the refineries return to their good old days of optimum performance.
“I am convinced that the teams we have selected here today will give the necessary direction towards returning the refineries back to their optimal levels of performance,” he said.
Baru further stated that the committees, in executing the assignment, were expected to deliver well and within schedule as time was of the essence.
He said although the target for the retrofitting of the refineries was to return them to 90 per cent capacity utilisation before the end of 2019, it is possible to achieve 100 per cent capacity utilisation with more commitment from the committees.
The Group Managing Director said, “we can fix the refineries but without the right people to operate them, they would go back to where they were or even worse.”
“We want to show everyone that we can fully run the refineries. You must all work together to operate them at 100 per cent capacity as this was the only way to ensure profitability,” he added.
In his remarks, NNPC’s Chief Operating Officer – Refineries and Petrochemicals, Anibor Kragha, said the 2019 target was the first time in 20 years that there was both the political will and the economic climate to ensure effective rehabilitation of the refineries.
He further said that over 28 Expressions of Interest had been received so far for the financing of the rehabilitation project and that the goal was to get more by the end of the year.
“Payment is therefore hinged on performance, ensuring a win-win situation for Nigeria,” Kragha said.
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