NNPC to Build More Refineries, Says GMD

NIGERIA National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) disclosed last week that, it has plans to build more refineries, even as its Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Austen Oniwon added that the refineries will   enhance the nation’s local refining capacity and also create job opportunities for the youths.
According to a statement signed by Group General Manager, Public Affairs of the NNPC, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, the Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Austen Oniwon, disclosed this when members of the Senior Executive Course No. 32 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Study(NIPSS), paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
According to the GMD, the proposed refineries are in tandem with the corporation’s commitment to guaranteeing unimpeded supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.
He assured that NNPC was determined to build more refineries in order to complement the existing ones currently operating at optimum capacity, even as he told his guests that the daily increase in the consumption of petroleum products in the country, has prompted the Corporation ino going into a strategic partnership with a Chinese firm to build additional three Greenfield Refineries and a Petrochemical plant in three different states of the Federation.
Presenting a paper titled: Imperative of Policy Sustainability for National Security and Democratic Perspective,  Oniwon pointed out that the new NNPC vision as a premier Nigerian Integrated Oil and Gas Company was to operate at world class levels by maximizing value addition and creating high value opportunities for Nigeria and Nigerians.
He said the Corporation was currently involved in the repositioning of gas for rapid domestic, regional and export penetration as contained in the Gas Master Plan saying efforts are being made to revitalize downstream capacity to support domestic energy needs hence the present drive for Greenfield Refineries and a revamp of the old ones.
The NNPC boss observed that the Corporation is presently undergoing a transformation process that would make it compete with other Integrated National Oil Companies in the world. Oniwon submitted that the Petroleum Industry Bill currently before the National Assembly if passed would reform key institutions to anchor sustained growth in the Oil and Gas Sector in the Country.