By Mohammad Ibrahim
Kano (Nigeria) – Managing Director of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) in northern Nigeria, Saidu Aliyu Muhammed says act of vandalism on pipeline supplying oil from Warri to Kaduna has remained a challenge to the company’s performance.
Muhammed said, so far, the supply of crude oil to KRPC which is grossly inadequate is still a major challenge to the sustenance of plant operation and needs to be addressed holistically.
The MD who stated this in Kano, at a workshop for journalists, stressed the need for oil pipelines to be regarded as ‘’Military Zone’’ in view of its strategic importance to the economy of Nigeria.
“The incessant vandalism on Warri – Kaduna pipeline is one of the greatest threats to KRPC’s performance. This line need to be highly secured to guarantee continuous supply of crude to KRPC.
“We advocate for the pipeline to be regarded as ‘’Military Zone’’ in view of its strategic importance. Replacement of the weak segments of the pipeline is ongoing. The repair work is expected to be completed on 27th August, 2015 and thereafter, Crude Oil supply to KRPC would resume.
“While, the plants were shutdown due to lack of Crude Oil, the opportunity was exploited to intensify the plant rehabilitation activities. Most of the jobs that require plant shutdown were handled in the Power Plant and Utilities (PPU), Fuels and Lubes Plants.
“As we speak, the PPU, CDU-1, NHU, CRU and the FCCU are back in operation.The products running to tanks now include Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), House Hold Kerosene (HHK), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO),” he said.
He pointed out that the ongoing plant rehabilitation is being done in phases, adding that Phase 1 was completed in December, 2014 and phase 2 was concluded in July, 2015 – hoping to commence phase 3 from September, 2015.
Africa Prime News learnt that the current phase of equipment installation is expected to increase capacity utilization of the refinery to 75%, while the third phase of the project will eventually deliver the targeted 90% capacity utilization by second quarter of 2016.
Muhammed said the purpose of the workshop was to strengthen the capacity of journalists in managing the flow of information from the Oil and Gas Industry to the public, thereby keeping themselves abreast with the happenings in the Industry.
In a remark, Chairman, Kaduna State Correspondents Garba Muhammad said KRPC is the first organization in the north to engage journalists through workshops on annual basis.
According to him, today other organizations are trying to emulate it by starting the sponsorship of workshops and other training programmes for Journalists.
He commended the company for its support to journalists in Kaduna State.
The theme of the workshop was “Development Communication: An imperative for Oil and Gas Industry” – to strengthen the use of communication to facilitate social development.
