The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), says plans are ongoing to grant Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Ltd. (NDPR) licence to operate its 1000 barrel per day Modular refinery that will be inaugurated soon. NDPR is a subsidiary of Niger Delta Exploration & Production Plc. (NDEP). This was made known in a statement issued by Mr Sarki Auwalu, the Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DPR in Abuja on Sunday. He commended the giant strides of NDPR in pioneering modular refineries in the country.
According to him, the move is in line with DPR’s drive to realise the objectives of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and other similar Federal Government initiatives aimed at deepening local refining in Nigeria “Having achieved these giant strides, the DPR is set to grant NDPR a ‘Licence to Operate’ (LTO) the plant expected to be commissioned soon. This laudable project is expected to catalyse further growth of the Nigerian refining industry by attracting more investments as more players gain confidence,” he said. He said that in addition to its maiden 1000 Barrels Per Day (BPD) Diesel Topping Refining Plant, NDPR had consolidated on its capacity by expanding the plant with an additional 5,000 BPD.
The expansion, he said would provide for other products slate to include kerosene, marine diesel and heavy fuel oil to cater for the Nigerian market. “The expanded plant located at Ogbele, Ahoada in Rivers State will potentially reduce importation of petroleum products with corresponding savings in foreign exchange and employment generation for our teaming youths. Furthermore, major equipment and units of the second (2nd) Train of 5,000 BPD have been fabricated, inspected, tested and modules are currently being shipped to Nigeria. When installed, the upgraded refining complex will bring the total refining capacity to 11,000 BPD,” he said
According to him, it will then have the requisite units to produce diesel (512,775 litres/day), kerosene (317,205 litres/clay), marine diesel (281,907 litres/day) and heavy fuel oil (234,525 litres/day), and particularly Premium Motor Spirit/gasoline (168,540 litres/day). He said that the DPR provided necessary regulatory guidance and technical support throughout the project development phases for NDPR to contribute about 4.2 per cent of national daily diesel demand and about o.4 per cent for gasoline in Nigeria. Auwalu then directed all modular refineries ‘Licence to Establish’ (LTE) holders to demonstrate expected performance within the two years validity of the Licence to enable them obtain ‘Approval to Construct’ (ATC) and other milestone approvals. (NAN)
