*Says two refineries may be streamed this month
Oscarline Onwuemenyi
17 December 2015, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has disclosed that pipelines bearing petroleum products across the country have been vandalised more than 27,967 time over the past few years.
He also announced that two of the state-run refineries may be re-streamed before the end of this month.
Kachikwu, who was speaking during an interactive session with members of the National Assembly, in Abuja, said the menace of pipeline vandalism has led to huge losses of oil and petroleum products, and billions of dollars in revenues.
He added that unutilised pipelines and poor pipeline integrity also led to high cost of trucking and its attendant destructive impact on the roads.
A statement signed by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Ohi Alegbe, and obtained by our correspondent, explained that the minister said based on available reports, the refineries may come alive again.
“On the current state of the refineries, Dr. Kachikwu stated that from the available reports before him, two of the refineries may be re-streamed before the end of December, 2015,” the statement read.
It added that efforts are on to engage private investors to build new refineries within the old ones to enable the refineries share power, pipelines and other resources.
Dr. Ibe Kachikwu expressed his readiness to work closely with the National Assembly to ensure the speedy growth and development of the oil and gas sector for the benefit of the entire country.
In a presentation titled: ‘The Roadmap for Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Sector,’ Dr. Kachikwu said the average national oil production as at July this year stood at 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd) and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) equity production is 99,000 bpd.
He said the declining Joint Venture reserves were due to inadequate and low investment in oil assets, stressing that the issue of funding constraints must be addressed going forward with the collaboration of private and international investors.
The minister said the average gas to power generation is about 3,000 megawatts (Mw) and domestic gas supply of one billion standard cubic feet (scf) with the contribution of 600 million scf from the NPDC.
He said the new agenda for the oil and oas industry is centered around having the right people doing the right things at the right time for the right purpose to yield the right results.