LAGOS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Full restoration work on all
three of Nigeria's state-owned refineries will begin in January,
the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said in a
statement on Saturday.
NNPC chief Mele Kyari said the company "will do everything
possible between October and December" to make the projects
possible.
Restoring state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and
Kaduna has been a long-sought, but elusive, goal for NNPC.
They have operated well under their 445,000 barrel-per-day
capacity for years due to neglect, mismanagement and a lack of
crude, leaving the oil-producing nation almost entirely reliant
on imported fuel.
In March, Italian firm Maire Tecnimont MTCM.MI won a $50
million contract to conduct a "complete integrity check" and
inspect equipment at Port Harcourt, with Italian oil company ENI
ENI.MI overseeing the work. Tecnimont project manager La Mattina Carmelo, in the NNPC
release, said the work was "progressing efficiently", with the
inspection nearly finished and the engineering, procurement, and
construction proposal at 75% completion.
NNPC said all the refineries will operate at full capacity
by 2022, but did not specify which companies would work on
upgrades and repairs at Warri or Kaduna.
In August, Kyari told Reuters that NNPC is considering both
government and private funding, but that after the revamps third
parties would maintain and operate the refineries to ensure
reliable production.