Senate summons NNPC over state of refineries
The Senate has sum- moned the Nige- rian National Petro- leum Corporation (NNPC) to appear before it to give account of the state of the nation’s four refineries.
The corporation is also expected to explain efforts made to ensure the func- tionality of private refiner- ies that have been granted licences to operate.
It is fur- ther to explain the state of other structures under it to the relevant Senate com- mittees, as soon as they are set up.
Recall that Joseph Dawha, group managing director, NNPC, had while inspecting some petrol sta- tions in Abuja, said the refin- ery in Port Harcourt would start refining petroleum products by the end of this month, and assured that all four refineries in the country would operate in optimal capacity as soon as turn- around maintenance was completed.
“Presently, the refineries are undergoing rehabilita- tion and we are undertaking what we call a new strategy to carry out the turnaround maintenance on them. Basi- cally, what this means is that we are carrying out phased implementation of reha- bilitation of the refineries. We are taking the refineries unit by unit and carrying out turnaround maintenance on them.
“Most of the refineries have advanced to a certain stage where they will be able to operate very soon. For example, the Port Har- court refinery, which has reached an advanced stage, will start receiving crude by end of this month and then of course will start contribut- ing to the available products in the country,” he said.
In the last two decades, there had been constant reconstruction of the na- tion’s refinery and pipelines without any visible results.
But in a motion on Wednesday, Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East) noted that thespate of petrol tanker explo- sions had become worri- some and called for urgent attention.
Recalling the separate tanker incidents in Anam- bra and Lagos states, which claimed over 70 lives and destroyed over 150 proper- ties, Ashafa said tankers lifting petroleum products in Nigeria had done grave damages to the nation’s roads, caused deaths and obstructed traffic.
The Senate, which ob- served a minute silence for the victims of the recent petrol tanker explosions in some part of Nigeria, said such measure will help fore- stall a re-occurrence of such preventable tragedies.
The corporation is also expected to explain efforts made to ensure the func- tionality of private refiner- ies that have been granted licences to operate.
It is fur- ther to explain the state of other structures under it to the relevant Senate com- mittees, as soon as they are set up.
Recall that Joseph Dawha, group managing director, NNPC, had while inspecting some petrol sta- tions in Abuja, said the refin- ery in Port Harcourt would start refining petroleum products by the end of this month, and assured that all four refineries in the country would operate in optimal capacity as soon as turn- around maintenance was completed.
“Presently, the refineries are undergoing rehabilita- tion and we are undertaking what we call a new strategy to carry out the turnaround maintenance on them. Basi- cally, what this means is that we are carrying out phased implementation of reha- bilitation of the refineries. We are taking the refineries unit by unit and carrying out turnaround maintenance on them.
“Most of the refineries have advanced to a certain stage where they will be able to operate very soon. For example, the Port Har- court refinery, which has reached an advanced stage, will start receiving crude by end of this month and then of course will start contribut- ing to the available products in the country,” he said.
In the last two decades, there had been constant reconstruction of the na- tion’s refinery and pipelines without any visible results.
But in a motion on Wednesday, Gbenga Ashafa (Lagos East) noted that thespate of petrol tanker explo- sions had become worri- some and called for urgent attention.
Recalling the separate tanker incidents in Anam- bra and Lagos states, which claimed over 70 lives and destroyed over 150 proper- ties, Ashafa said tankers lifting petroleum products in Nigeria had done grave damages to the nation’s roads, caused deaths and obstructed traffic.
The Senate, which ob- served a minute silence for the victims of the recent petrol tanker explosions in some part of Nigeria, said such measure will help fore- stall a re-occurrence of such preventable tragedies.
Comments
Post a Comment