Nigeria Needs More Refineries—NNPC Boss

**Kaduna Refinery Begins Production December

Production of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, commonly called petrol is scheduled to commence at the Kaduna Refinery by December 2015, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has said.

This was disclosed in a statement issued in Abuja by the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Ibe Kachikwu.

The NNPC boss, during a facility tour to the Kaduna Refining Petrochemical Company, KRPC, revealed that the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit, FCCU, and the fuel section of the refinery would be brought back to life within the next three months for Nigerians to enjoy uninterrupted supply of petroleum products.

He also disclosed that the Corporation has lifted the embargo earlier placed on 113 vessels, banning them from engaging in crude oil and gas loading activities in any of the terminals within Nigerian territorial waters.

According to him, “All the component units of the refinery, including the FCCU and the fuel section, will be fully rehabilitated for resumption of crude supply to the plant. You will soon have a different company; we must do all it takes to make this company a success.”

Kachikwu pointed out that Nigeria needs more refineries, saying that, “I am pushing to build new refineries next to our existing plants to boost the nation’s refining capacity for the common good.

“The new refineries will be developed by private investors and NNPC’s role will be just to provide them with space close to the existing refineries to enable them share key facilities such as pipelines and storage facilities.”