Robert Brelsford
Downstream Technology Editor
Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. said it will establish two condensate refineries with a combined refining capacity of 200,000 b/d at Western Forcados Area and Assah North Ohaji South (ANOH) Areas of Delta and Imo States, Nigera, respectively.
NNPC launched a bid opening for the provision of consultancy services to carry out a feasibility study for the two refineries on Aug. 28, the state-owned company said.
Part of Nigeria’s strategy to eliminate importation of petroleum products and guarantee energy security, establishment of the grassroots refineries will increase gas supply to power plants around the country, according to Maikanti Baru, NNPC’s group managing director.
The new condensate refineries—which would raise NNPC’s overall refining capacity to 645,000 b/sd from 445,000 b/sd—also would increase the nation’s revenue base, provide additional jobs, and save the country on foreign exchange.
Baru said NNCP intends to seek private investment for the projects where NNCP would hold a majority but not a controlling share.
This model would allow the private sector to have the confidence to drive the plants and ensure that the bureaucracy that is involved in government business is out of it, Baru added.
He said that when the implementation of Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB) becomes fully operational, National Petroleum Co. (NPC) would become stable, as it would be governed by the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).
The initiative is in line with the overall objectives of Nigeria’s federal government to grow the economy to 7% of gross domestic product by 2020 through the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), Baru said, adding that NNPC’s aim is to ensure sufficient power and fuels are available to drive growth in the economy.
“It is a great day for me and NNPC and am happy that we have got some bids from companies who are willing to carry out the feasibility study for the NNPC,” Baru added, without disclosing specific names of the bidding companies.
A timeframe for the new refinery projects, however, was not revealed.
Other projects
Announcement of the new condensate refineries follows NNCP’s recent suggestion to the market that it also would relocate two 100,000-b/sd brownfield refineries from abroad to Port Harcourt and Warri.
In an Aug. 14 release, NNCP said that, as part of the company’s refinery collocation initiative, a group of unidentified investors has started the process of relocating a former BP PLC refinery from Turkey to Nigeria to be installed near NNPC’s existing Port Harcourt refining complex—which currently houses a 60,000-b/sd hydroskimming refinery and 150,000-b/sd full-conversion refinery—in Rivers State.
A similar plan also is under way to relocate another 100,000-b/sd brownfield refinery from abroad near NNCP’s existing 125,000-b/sd refinery in Delta State.
Further details regarding the proposed brownfield refinery relocations have yet to be revealed.
All four refinery projects come as part of a series of recent initiatives by NNPC to aggressively advance its rehabilitation-and-expansion program at Nigeria’s state-owned refineries in order to meet the country’s domestic demand for fuels and curb its reliance on foreign imports (OGJ Online, Jan. 24, 2017; Jan. 12, 2017; Dec. 21, 2016).
