The minister of state for petroleum resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, has announced that the Kaduna refinery will be operational by the end of 2024.
He made this statement after inspecting the ongoing quick-fix project on the refinery on Saturday.
Lokpobiri was accompanied by Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, and other top officials. They visited the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited (KRPC) to assess the level of work done.
Lokpobiri said he was impressed by the significant progress made on the project and assured that the federal government would support it to ensure its completion. He said the key players involved in the refinery’s rehabilitation would be held accountable for delivering the project on time.
Lokpobiri stressed the importance of getting the refinery back on stream for the country’s economic growth and energy security. He said this would contribute to the sustainable development of Nigeria.
Kyari also expressed confidence that the project would meet its deadline as all hands were on deck. He said the equipment needed for the quick-fix activities was already in place and that the repair would guarantee 60,000 barrels per day output at the refinery.
He said: “We are very confident that we will get the appropriate financing to get to the end of it, and ultimately, we will start to deliver value to Nigerians again.
“We plan the quick fix for 60,000 barrels per day so that we can start making money from this plant and we can continue the other part of the refinery to bring it up to its full-fledged capacity. This will also tally with the completion of the Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) on the pipeline.”
He added that this would result in a reliable pipeline delivery infrastructure.
