CEM REPORT, OIL & GAS | As part of efforts to revive the country’s refineries, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has signed a deal with Daewoo Group of South Korea to rehabilitate the Kaduna Refinery.
According to Femi Adesina, President Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by both parties on Thursday, October 27, 2022, in Seoul, South Korea during the first World Bio Summit
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 2022 World Bio Summit in Seoul, South Korea during which Buhari had a bilateral meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk Yeol.
The president, according to a series of posts on Twitter, was particularly excited as the signing came against the ongoing rehabilitation works at the Warri Refinery by the same Daewoo Group, which was expected at the first instance, to deliver the product before the first half of 2023.
“Daewoo Group has massive investments in the automobile, maritime and other sectors of our economy. I am also aware that Daewoo is currently engaged in the execution of the NLNG train seven project and also constructing sea-going LPG vessels for NNPC and her partners. This, no doubt will open many more windows of opportunity for Daewoo and other Korean companies in Nigeria. I thank you for your faith in Nigeria.”
The 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity Kaduna Refinery is one of Nigeria’s four dysfunctional refineries that have produced no fuel for years, leaving the country to rely on imported products.
Daewoo is also repairing the Warri plant, which will at the first should instance deliver fuel before the first half of 2023.
However, the NNPC GCEO had hinted via his verified tweeter handle that company was progressing with its refinery rehabilitation agenda and had endorsed the Letter of Intent (LOI) for the revision of the quick fix for the Kaduna Refinery with Daewoo.
“We are progressing with our refinery rehabilitation agenda. We endorsed the LOI for the revised strategy of a quick fix for the Kaduna Refinery with Daewoo in Seoul. Mobilisation to the site to commence shortly. Rehabilitation activities in Port Harcourt and Warri continuing. We are poised to deliver.”
He had added that NNPC would follow up on Buhari’s continuing commitment to deepen energy industry collaboration with Korean partners.
The biggest state-run refinery, which is Port Harcourt, is currently undergoing repairs handled by Tecnimont of Italy. The government said it expects the plant to start production by December 2022.
The Federal Executive Council had in August last year approved the award of the contract for the rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna Refineries at the combined total sum of $1.5 billion.
Previous attempts at rehabilitation
In January 2022, NNPCL said it spent N8.3 billion monthly for 12 months between January and December 2021 on refinery rehabilitation.
During the 2019 Oil Trading and Logistics Africa Downstream Week, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said that the “refurbishment of the existing refineries to achieve full capacity operations shall be fast-tracked: (Port Harcourt ongoing, others to follow by Q1 and Q2 2020).”
The Warri refinery will commence operations in December 2023
In August 2021, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the sum of $1.48 billion for the rehabilitation of both the Warri and Kaduna refineries.
Refineries rehabilitation gulped N100 billion in 2021, the NNPC said.
