• About 700,000bpd currently lost to shutdowns and oil theft
The Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mallam Mele Kyari, has countered calls for legitimising illegal refineries in the Niger Delta as standard refining facilities to assist in reducing importation of refined petroleum products.
Kyari, who spoke on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) described the so-called illegal refining facilities as mere cooking pots, insisting that growing demand for their official recognition were unfounded and unscientific.
A technocrat in refining technology, Engr. Samson Ubeku, who spoke to Realtime.ng corroborated the assertion by the NNPCL helmsman; adding that for people to understand what it takes to refine crude oil into petroleum products – butane (cooking gas), gasoline (petrol), kerosene, AGO (diesel), etc; they should at least look at pictures of refineries online if they cannot visit any of the facilities to understand that refining of crude oil is a melting pot of engineering.
He added that the so-called illegal refineries are huge hazards for the end users, the environment, the operators and also, a drain pipe to the nation’s economy.
He advocated “strict legislation against the illegal act”.
On persistent calls on the government to recognise small artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta to boost in-country fuel supply, rather than criminalising them, Kyari stated that the legalisation will not work, noting instead that modular refineries should be encouraged.
“That’s why there are licences given out for modular refineries and they can produce up to 1,000 barrels to 20,000 barrels per day. Refining is a science of its own. The cooking pots you are seeing are not refineries in any sense, Kyari said.
“There’s simply no way you can convert these cooking pots to legal refineries. It’s not possible. But modular refineries can be constructed and the NNPCL has a framework for supporting those who want to do modular refineries,” the GCEO stated.
According to him, the illegal refineries have degraded the environment of Niger Delta.
He also noted that for the host communities, the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) sets aside some funds for them which he said will make sure the areas are carried along.
The NNPCL boss stated that several arrests had been made by the security agencies , especially for people stealing Nigeria’s oil, pointing out that the names were being kept secret for security reasons.
Kyari further said that the oil thieves were many, and that whoever is involved will be arrested without exception.
“ Not every member of those communities are involved. In fact , it’s a very small minority of them and from our engagement with the communities, we know they are not happy with what is happening to the environment.
“We are joining them to get rid of the criminals, other wise it’s difficult to explain why there are hundreds of illegal refineries along the pipelines,” he said.
According to him, marine activities have subsided in the last few days, with some confidence that the results are coming in.
He reiterated that technology was being deployed in tackling the problem but assured that the challenge was not insurmountable.
The GCEO stressed that direct stealing of the crude oil was being carried out in the region, admitting that Nigeria was losing about 700,000 barrels per day production to theft and shutdowns.