As part of plans to guarantee energy security and stop petroleum products importation in the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has kicked off the first phase of establishing the first condensate refinery in the country with a firm commitment to take the Final Investment Decision (FID) on it in July, 2020.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, disclosed this Friday at the signing of the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) phase of the condensate refinery project at the NNPC Towers in Abuja, a release by NNPC Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Samson Makoji, has said.
The NNPC GMD said Nigeria had great potentials for condensate that could be leveraged upon to bridge the huge fuel importation deficit in the country; stressing that there was need to drive the condensate refinery project with utmost priority as the various stakeholders were upbeat about its prospects.
“This country expects that we secure all our petroleum products requirements in-country. We have a clear mandate from the President to stop petroleum importation and we believe this can be done. Condensate refining is something that we at the NNPC are very passionate about and it’s a national objective that all needs support”, he said.
While commending the duo of National Engineering and Technical Compnay (NETCO), the Engineering subsidiary of the NNPC, and KBR (a consulting engineering firm), for the impressive feasibility study on the project, he challenged them to ensure the completion of the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) by June, 2020, to enable the project proceed to second phase.
The GMD said that the ongoing efforts in revamping the corporation’s refineries was part of the strategies towards achieving the goal of self-sufficiency in local refining capacity.
He reiterated the corporation’s commitment to support private and indigenous companies with genuine interest in setting up refineries in the country.
The contract for the FEED was signed by the GMD on behalf of NNPC and its partners, Seplat and Borkir International, and NETCO and KBR.
Speaking at the event, representatives of Seplat, Borkir International, and KBR, Effiong Okon, Muhammed Dangote, and Ben Sawford, appreciated the strong leadership of the NNPC Management in driving the project while expressing their confidence and commitment to the project.
