Tag Archives: REFINERIES

Presidency moves to transform illegal Niger Delta oil refineries into joint ventures.

Posted on by
1

The presidency is making a move to make some of the illegal refiners and the local communities in the Niger Delta become shareholders in the proposed modular refineries concept of the Federal Government.

A modular refinery is one made up of smaller and mobile parts-(skid-mounted)- that are more easily fabricated and can be more quickly transported to site. They come in different sizes with varying capacities normally lower than conventional refineries with more elaborate and complicated set-up.

A presidency source yesterday said the consideration was in line with the promises made by the government during the presidential interactive engagements in several oil-producing states led by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to integrate the illegal refiners, rather than eliminate their operations.

However, specific consideration of how to integrate local “illegal” refiners in the oil-producing communities into the proposed modular refinery concept is now in progress with the Presidency and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Agency (NSIA), spearheading the efforts.

At a meeting late last week at the Presidential Villa, issues around technical and engineering implications of how to integrate the refiners were discussed with industry experts and practitioners making presentations on how to implement the modular refinery initiative said to have been first proposed by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

At the meeting, the experts reported that they had worked closely with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), oil and gas operators, owners of marginal fields, operators of refineries and various technical services providers “to develop a workable system to drive the initiative, the presidency source disclosed.

Under the plan being considered, the government could supply crude to the local refineries at a reasonably considered price, as an incentive to stop the current practice whereby the illegal refiners vandalise and steal the crude. This concept will also prevent environmental degradation that the spills and damaging the trunk lines have been causing.

Also, marginal field operators can supply crude to the new modular refineries that will have the illegal refiners integrated. Another important component of the plan under consideration is to involve the current illegal refiners and their communities as shareholders while the Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC) and the NSIA will also hold substantial holdings/equity sufficient to make the smaller refineries operational as a business and a going concern.

To facilitate effective community engagements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be established under the plan with the affected communities determining their share, while the government will supervise the implementation, which would be driven largely by industry operators and the communities.

Mr. Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President, Media & Publicity confirmed that a meeting was held last week on the issue, adding that the presidency was actively working to deliver on its promise of a new vision in the Niger Delta.

 

Source: The Guardian

Destruction of illegal refineries responsible for soot deposits – Nyesom Wike

Posted on by
16

Nyesom Wike, Rivers state governor, says uncontrolled destruction of illegal refineries is partly responsible of the soot deposits in the state.

Soot is a black substance that is produced when coal, wood or any item is burnt.

According to Simeon Nwakaudu, Wike’s media aide, the governor said this during the courtesy visit by Enobong Udoh, general officer commanding the sixth division of the Nigeria Army to the government house, Port Harcourt.

Wike said the methods currently adopted by security agencies in destroying illegal refineries were harmful to the environment.

He said while it was necessary to stop illegal refineries from operating, such actions must not expose the people to extensive and prolonged danger.

“The outcome of the uncontrolled destruction of illegal refineries without precautionary measures forms part of the reasons why the state is suffering from black soot,” he said.

“The present mode of destroying illegal refineries is negatively affecting our environment.  Everywhere across the state you see black soot deposited on surfaces of buildings, cars and other structures.

“The state government is working hard to resolve this environmental challenge, but we need the cooperation of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies in the manner they destroy illegal refineries.”

He said his administration would continue to take steps to protect the state’s environment.

He added that the health of Rivers people depended on the environment; hence the state government would work with all stakeholders to stop the soot.

On his part, Udoh assured the governor that he would continue to work professionally to ensure that the people benefit from the presence of the division in the state.

No more petroleum product import by 2019 – NNPC promises to revamp refineries.

Posted on by
8

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Wednesday said it planned to rehabilitate, revamp and upgrade all the refineries so that there would be no more product import by 2019.

Dr Bello Rabiu, NNPC Chief Operating Officer, (Upstream), said this during a panel discussion session at the West African International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (WAIPEC) organised by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) in Lagos.

NAN reports that the session had the topic: “How Nigerian and West African Market can Better Compete in a Weak and Disruptive Oil Market’’.

According to him, it is imperative to balance high crude output with high refining capacities to reduce imports costs and charges, export charges and subsidy payments.

“This will effectively position us to get more value from the crude fractions as opposed to a single price value for the crude alone.

“It will also ensure that we are less exposed to market fluctuations and then give us control of products marketing and supply.

“As we reduce reliance on imported refined products, we would be more competitive,’’ Rabiu said.

The NNPC upstream chief said there was need for new investments in refining capacity to grow and sustain internal consumption and promote external trade amongst West African countries.

He said that there were plans to increase capacities in Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Niger Republic with regards to the Nigerian private-sector led Dangote Refinery.

The refinery, Rabiu said that the refinery was proposed as a 650,000bopd refinery located in Lekki, Lagos.

“In terms of economic and trade cooperation amongst ECOWAS countries, the recently proposed Niger-Kaduna refinery crude export pipeline offers a panacea for landlocked West African countries.

“Therefore, it should be promoted as it acts as an alternative source of crude supply to an existing ready market.

“Similar infrastructure running from Chad to Cameroun’s Atlantic coast is in operation,’’ he said.

Rabiu said that there was need to diversify the West African economic base to be able to handle shocks caused by oil prices.

The NNPC chief called for harmonisation of tariffs on non-ECOWAS goods to promote better economic cooperation with regards to non-oil exports.

He said that harmonisation would expectedly counter the effects of smuggling across the ECOWAS borders.

According to Rabiu, the tariff harmonisation will spur coastal countries to work towards making their ports preferred import destinations to attract greater trade flows and by extension, fiscal revenues.

“It will promote trade amongst West African countries and by extension ECOWAS can forge partnerships with Europe, Asia, etc. for the export of their agricultural produce.

 

Source: Guardian

NNPC to begin comprehensive rehabilitation of Port Harcourt, Warri, Kaduna refineries.

Posted on by
1

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has slated a comprehensive rehabilitation of the nation’s three refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna to achieve optimal capacity utilization for next year.

The Chief Operating Officer (COO), Refineries, of the NNPC, Mr. Anibor Kragha, at the Annual General Meeting of the three facilities in Abuja, yesterday, stated that the corporation was determined to move away from the approach of quick fixes and undertake a comprehensive rehabilitation of the plants.

‘’The plan for next year is to get the comprehensive rehabilitation programme done. The situation is like having three cars in your garage that have not been maintained for 15 to 20 years while you expect optimal performance from them. Changing one fuel pump here, one compressor there is not helpful. What we are doing now is to step back and take a holistic approach and do a full rehabilitation of all the refineries”, Kragha stated.

Meanwhile, after one year of experimenting with non-petroleum revenue for budget financing in the country, the managers of the country’s economy have returned to oil reliance budget financing.

The experimentation with the non-oil revenue sources as the cornerstone of budget financing was undertaken in the current 2016 Federal Budget which implementation is expected to wind down in May next year. It was planned to be led by non-petroleum revenue resources projected to fetch the country N1.45 trillion while oil mineral resources was projected at a cautionary level of N820 billion.

Oil mineral proceeds now have a larger projected revenue target of N1.985 trillion, while non-oil conversely now has a lower projection of N1.373 trillion.

Offering more insight into the policy shift at a briefing yesterday, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, said that revenue expectations from the non-oil window fell grossly below their targets and seriously impinged of the implementation of the 2016 budget.

He said: “ The projected independent revenue was N1.1 trillion as against N0.2 trillion realised during the period. The projected revenue for Customs was N0.3 trillion as against N0.2 trillion realised, while the projected non-oil tax receipts for the 1st – Q3 of 2016 is N0.8 trillion as against N0.5 trillion realised during the period.”

NSCDC Destroys 15 Illegal Refineries, Gears Up For “Ember” Months

Posted on by
Reply

The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, said the corps has destroyed 15 illegal refineries and illegal dumps, in the creeks.

In a statement, Thursday, from the corps spokesman, Emmanuel Okeh, Gana commended the effort of the personnel as well as the Commandant of Rivers State command, Mrs. Helen Amakiri, “for a successful operation in the creek leading to the destruction of 15 illegal refineries and illegal dumps.”

Gana also appreciated the effort of the personnel across the Nation for providing security during the Eid-el-Kabir celebration.

He said ”I am happy with the pro activeness and doggedness of all of you in tackling insecurity in this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration, and I pray that you keep it up at all times to justify the mandate of the Corps ”.

The Corps helmsman reiterated that in this ”ember” season, the Corps has a lot to do especially in protecting Critical Infrastructure.

Gana noted that, the-get-rich-quick syndrome of the youths during this period is usually high considering the fact that “instead of celebrating Christmas festival in line with the Christian doctrine, youths usually take to crime and criminalities, in trying to grab at all cost what do not belong to them”.

He therefore urged the security operatives, “to re-strategies the modus operandi in order to nip in the bud such vices.”

He however debunked the speculations there is rift among the Management Team and urged the sectional heads to brief their Staff adequately against peddling false information on issues they are not clarified about.

NSCDC Destroys 450 Illegal Refineries, Arrests 3000 Vandals

Posted on by
Reply

The commandant general, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC),  Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu said the corps has destroyed about 450 illegal refineries,  arrested over 3,000 vandals and confiscated a lot of vehicles which were forfeited by the court and auctioned off since he assumed office in July, 2015.

The NSCDC boss who stated this when he played host to the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru , requested that the corps  be assisted with arms and equipment that will enable them  combat pipeline vandalism in the country.

The CG stated that with adequate capacity, the NSCDC could eradicate the incidence of vandalism of critical infrastructure such as power line, pipeline, telecoms base station and other national assets.

The CG said rather than give them money, the agency would appreciate corporation’s assistance, noting that the agency lacked sophisticated equipment, particularly arms, adding that pipeline vandals who operate as syndicates are well armed.

Read More: leadership

New Militant Group Emerges, Vow To Blow Up Refineries, Gas Plant

Posted on by
Reply

Another militant group, Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, NDGJM, has emerged with a threat to bring down the Refinery in Eleme, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Warri Refinery and the Utorogun gas plant in Otu-Jeremi in Ughelli South Local Government Area, Delta State in few days should the federal government fail to listen to them.

Issuing 48 hours to oil multinationals still in the upland of the region, especially in the Ogba/Egi axis of Rivers state, Urhobo/Isoko/Ndokwa axis of Delta state and other upland oil producing areas to evacuate their personnel, they decried that all the people of the upland Niger Delta, under whose watch the largest and most critical oil assets are located, have been ignored over the years as government and the oil companies pander to every whim and cough of those who have violently engaged the state.

The group in a statement by its Spokesman, self-styled Gen. Aldo Agbalaja said: “We have keenly watched developments in the country in recent times, developments that are most depressing, very much depicting the marginalization and subjugation of the hapless people of our region.

“We have thought very deeply about the ongoing shenanigan and play-acting going on between the federal government and some self-styled ‘Niger Delta agitators’ and thought if we fail to make our own statement now, then there will be no future for the larger Niger Delta region”.

Read More:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/08/new-militant-group-emerges-vow-blow-warri-ph-refineries-utorogun-gas-plant/

Reps Order Halt Of Refineries Privatization

Posted on by
1

The House of Representatives Committee on Privatization and Commercialization has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to stop its planned privatization of the nation’s refineries or joint investment ventures with some multinationals.

The committee’s chairman, Hon. Ahmed Yerima (APC, Bauchi), who gave the order yesterday in Abuja during an interactive session with the managements of the NNPC and Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) on the planned privatization of three  refineries in the country, said the process was in breach of relevant laws.

Earlier in his submission, the group executive director, Refineries, at the NNPC, Mr Anibor Kragba, had said the NNPC had no powers to privatize any of its refineries and that they were only seeking funds to get the refineries back to work.

Kragba, who represented the minister of state for petroleum resources and group managing director of the corporation, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said they decided to put up some publications in certain national dailies on the matter in an effort to have joint investment ventures with interested companies.

For his part, the acting director-general, BPE, Mr Vincent Akpotarie, said the refineries that were privatized had been reversed in 2007, but that there were moves towards the end of the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration for fresh privatization of the refineries, which failed.

He added that the BPE was worried about joint venture agreements because of past experience where such ventures failed.

The committee chairman however said: “I think there’s a clear violation of the law in seeking investments based on what the BPE DG said.”

Credit: Leadership

Refineries To Resume Operations This Month – NNPC

Posted on by
Reply

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, on Sunday said refineries will resume operation for local consumption this month so as to end the lingering fuel scarcity in the country.
Addressing newsmen after inspecting some petrol stations in Abuja, the Group Executive Director/ Chief Operating Officer, COO, NNPC, Downstream, Henry Ikem Obih said all the refineries were at various stages of resumption.

 

Obih also disclosed that NNPC had taken delivery of four vessels of refined petrol that are at various stages of distribution across the country.

 

“We are working extremely hard to ensure that we eliminate the queues. What we have seen today is encouraging but we are still not there. We will be there when you go into a couple of filling stations and you are able to buy fuel and drive away. Our refineries will commence refining sometime this month,” he said.

Credit : Daily Post

Warri, Kaduna Refineries Shut Production After Attacks On Pipelines

Posted on by
1

Nigeria’s state oil company has shut down crude oil flows to two of its four refineries after weekend attacks on pipelines, a company spokesman said on Monday, frustrating government hopes to start weaning the country from expensive imports.

The refineries in the northern city of Kaduna and Warri, in the southern Niger Delta, were affected, said Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) spokesman, Ohi Alegbe.

“We have shut down flows for now, the military are on top of the matter,” he said, without offering
details of the attacks.

The 125,000 barrel per day (bpd) Warri refinery and the 110,000 bpd Kaduna refinery had resumed output in December after several months of maintenance. The Kaduna refinery receives its feedstock oil via the Warri refinery.

Nigeria also has a third refining complex with two plants in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt, although only the newer of the two plants is currently functioning.

No group claimed responsibility for the weekend attacks, which follow last week’s arrest warrant for former militant leader turned businessman, Government Ekpemupolo, known as Tompolo, as part of a crackdown on corruption.

A statement issued by the military’s operation Pulo Shield in the oil-rich Niger Delta region vowed to hold “community leaders responsible for any act of sabotage.”

“This warning is coming as a result of recent, multiple attacks on oil facilities and platforms by suspected militants in the Niger Delta region,” the statement issued on Sunday said, without offering further details.

The attacks follow years of relative calm in the country’s oil-producing region after an 2009 amnesty halted frequent attacks on oil installations and kidnappings of expatriate workers

Nigeria’s 4 Refineries Repositioned To Produce 10M Litres Of PMS Daily – Kachikwu

Posted on by
Reply

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said the nation’s refineries had been repositioned to produce not less than 10 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, per day.

 

Kachikwu stated this on Sunday during his official visit to Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC).

 

According to him, the mission of the visit was to ascertain the current state of the refinery and identify areas of challenges for the workers at the refinery.

 

“A lot of work has been done and a lot manpower have been put in place. But a lot still needs to be done in order to put this refinery to work continuously and reliably,” he said.

 

He noted that a lot of progress has been made in terms of availability of fuel in the various cities and towns as the long queues are fast disappearing from the filling stations.

 

While commending the management of KRPC for keeping the refinery working for more than a week now, he however said there was room for improvement so as to move the current production level from 1.5 million litres to 2 or 3 million litres per day.

 

He expressed confidence that with more refineries coming on stream the fuel supply situation will continue to improve in the country.

 

While fielding questions later from newsmen, the minister said the Federal Government was doing all it could do to ensure the subsidy on fuel is resolved without inflicting more pains on ordinary Nigerians.

 

“Everybody is on the same page that we need to get out of it; should we sale product at a certain price or should we let free market rolling so that we can sky rocket prices,” he said.

 

According to him, the President says that product should go for N87 per litre for now and that he has given an approval to look at market trends and make adjustment if need be.

 

He assured that the administration was committed to ensuring adequate supply of petroleum products across the country.

 

The minister, who was received by the Managing Director of KRPC management headed by Mr Saidu Mohammed, was accompanied by top NNPC officials during the visit.

 

 

(NAN)

Reps Pass Motion To Stop Refineries Operations

Posted on by
28

The House of Representatives has passed a motion urging the executive to stop the operations of all refineries in Nigeria due to the huge debts being incurred despite the fact that they are barely functioning.

The motion was passed on Wednesday.

It pointed out that the inability of the refineries to serve local consumption is responsible for the country’s dependence on imported refined products and resultant fuel scarcity across the country.

The House has also called for the issue of privatization of the refineries to be revisited and urgently considered.

Credit: ChannelsTV

Non-performing Refineries Will Be Shut Down In December- Kachikwu

Posted on by
2

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Group Managing Director, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said refineries in the country performing below 65 per cent of capacity would be shut down in December, 2015.

Kachikwu, one of the 37 ministerial nominees stated this while responding to questions by some senators during his screening at the Senate on Wednesday in Abuja.

He disclosed that the reality is that functioning refineries were operating at only 25 per cent, contrary to reports that they were doing well.
He said that it was not enough for a refinery to produce at 65 per cent today and at zero per cent the next day, stressing that anytime crude was not utilised by a refinery, the government lost money.

On recurring scarcity of petroleum products, especially petrol and kerosene, Kachikwu said that the situation would continue unless the refineries performed optimally.
“Performance levels are about 25 and 26 per cent; it is not enough to do 65 per cent one day and do zero per cent the next day. We have started a policy of not giving crude to any refinery that is not producing. Port Harcourt refinery is producing at over 60 per cent and we want to drive it to 80 by December.

“Warri Refinery has indicated that it will soon come on stream; we will begin to pump crude to Kaduna Refinery by tomorrow (Thursday) and by the next five days, we will know if they will produce above 65 per cent. Any refinery that does not produce up to 60 per cent is not into production, and at the end of December, we will only allow those who perform optimally. Those that do not, we will shut them down,” he said.

Credit: NAN

NNPC may sell refineries that don’t meet ultimatum on rehabilitation –GMD

Posted on by
Reply

 The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it may sell refineries that fail to work optimally by the expiration of the 90-day ultimatum for their rehabilitation.

Dr Ibe Kachikwu, the NNPC Group Managing Director, disclosed this at an interactive session with news men in Lagos.

Kachikwu said “by the end of December when the 90-day ultimatum will expires, any refinery that does not work optimally will be sold.

“I am determined to make a difference during my tenure. We are losing N2.2 trillion monthly to refinery inefficiency. As at today, the average refining performance is 30 per cent.

“If by December, the refineries don’t work, I will export crude allocation and import refined petroleum products until we fix the refineries.

“Right now, the Port Harcourt refinery is showing signs that it will meet the December deadline.

“However, I am not saying Warri and Kaduna refineries will not meet the deadline, but I hope they all make it, so that we can continue to utilise our crude allocation to boost domestic refining.’’

Kachikwu expressed the hope that the NNPC cash call arrears, which stood at N1.1 trillion, would be settled by the end of December 2015.

“By December, I hope to settle all the cash call arrears and grow Nigerian Petroleum Development Corporation (NPDC) to where it is supposed to be,’’ he said.

(NAN)

NNPC cancels refinery crude delivery, offshore processing contracts

Posted on by
Reply

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has cancelled the contract for the delivery of crude oil to the refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.

 

The corporation also announced the termination of the Offshore Processing Agreements (OPA) entered into in January 2015, with three companies, namely Duke Oil Company, Aiteo Energy Resources Limited, and Sahara Energy Resources.

 

Under this controversial agreement, the NNPC allocates a total of 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day for refining at offshore locations in exchange for petroleum products at a pre-agreed yield pattern.

 

Consequently, the NNPC has invited Messrs Oando, Sahara Energy, Calson, MRS, Duke Oil, BP/Nigermed and Total Trading to bid for the new offshore processing agreement while it has engaged AITEO, Sahara Energy and Duke Oil to exit the current OPA.

 

Announcing the new measures in a statement issued yesterday, the NNPC said that it is aimed at cost reduction and strengthening of operational efficiency across its value chain.

 

In the statement signed by its spokesman, Ohi Alegbe, the corporation stated that after proper evaluation and in line with the terms of contract for the delivery of crude oil to the nation’s refineries, the decision was reached to cancel the contract due to the exorbitant cost and inappropriate process of engagement.

 

“As a stop-gap measure, a subsidiary of the NNPC, the NIDAS Marine Limited, has been engaged to provide crude delivery services on negotiated industry standard rate pending the establishment of a substantive contract.

 

We have also commenced a rigorous and transparent process of securing capable and competitive contractors for the delivery of crude oil by marine vessels to the Port Harcourt and Warri/Kaduna refineries pending the restoration of the crude pipeline infrastructure,’’ the corporation stated.

 

The NNPC, however, explained that it resorted to the delivery of crude oil to the refineries by marine vessels following the incessant attacks on the Bonny-Port Harcourt refinery pipeline and the Escravos crude pipelines by vandals and oil thieves, resulting in the complete unavailability of the pipelines in 2013.

 

–Leadership

Buhari set to bar marketers from importing fuel

Posted on by
15

The Buhari-led government is set to bar marketers from importing fuel while ensuring that only the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) imports petroleum products.

 

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele revealed this in an interview with Financial Times of London recently.

 

“The president came on board and said that we will work very hard to reduce importation of petroleum products by ensuring that our refineries work. Our refineries are working now. Warri and Port Harcourt have started producing, they have not obtained the optimal capacity but they will. Kaduna refinery will start working this month.

 

 

“Now, there are other actions that the presidency is putting in place to ensure that we reduce importation of petroleum products where the NNPC will solely, almost solely be responsible for procuring refined petroleum so those who are importing petroleum products will only just need to go to the NNPC and pick up petroleum products.

 

“So in that area I would say that we are already moving in the direction of reducing the import of petroleum products. And we will achieve it,” Emefiele said.

 

On the president’s efforts to recover stolen oil monies deposited in banks, Emefiele said “as the central bank, we will also assist in drilling them once we get to that stage, and we will be happy to have that money back because it will improve our reserves.”

 

Speaking on Buhari’s order that revenue-generating agencies operate a Treasury Single Account, the CBN boss explained that, “once they receive the revenues, the revenues must come to the centre, and that means those revenues will come to the Central Bank of Nigeria.”

 

“We had instances where some of those revenues were trapped outside the central bank. The president came on and he insisted that all revenues come to the centre and that’s what we are saying, and it’s the reason why you are seeing some improvements in the reserves position,” he noted.

 

 

Emefiele also commented on the gap between the parallel market and the inter-bank rate.

 

“The gap is closing and I imagine that foreign investors should be happy that we are doing everything possible to close the gap. Based on that, they will believe us when we say that the parallel market is a shallow market, and that there is no need to use the parallel market as the benchmark for determining the real value of our currency.”

 

-NAN

Yakubu Dogara Condemns Refining Oil Outside Nigeria

Posted on by
Reply

The Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, on Monday said it was illegal for the crude oil produced on the shores of Nigeria to be refined outside the country.
Dogara who stated this while addressing National Executive of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, led by its President, Chinedu Okoronkwo, expressed regrets over the failure of past administration to encourage domestic refining of the nation’s crude oil.
He said that singular act by the previous administration could make the country a laughing stock in comity of nations.
According to him, “I don’t know if there is any country that produces the kind of oil that is produced in Nigeria that refines outside its products own shores. For me, it is kind of illegal. This is most inexcusable because we have turned this nation into a laughing stock.
“Why is it that we can’t refine this oil here? Why is it that in an oil producing country our brothers and sisters have to queue for nine hours to buy a product that should just be there? This is something that I believe that with your expertise you need to leverage on.”
On the removal of oil subsidy, the speaker said: “As a legislator, I can tell you there is something about subsidy removal that we are not looking at.
“There is a Price Control Act; if you look at the PCA, section 4 talks about regulating or controlling the prices of products that are listed in the first schedule of that act.
“One of the products listed in the first schedule is petroleum products, so by law in this country, we must control the price of petroleum products.
“But the law as passed by parliament gives a window and prescribing, vesting the responsibility of adding up items on the schedule of the giving items to the price regulating board and I am not sure we have that board in place.”