At Economic Sabotage Probe, Senate Panel Laments $1.5bn Expended on Moribund Port Harcourt Refinery

• We’re neither thieves nor saboteurs NNPCL declares
• Dangote refinery seeks protection, confirms receiving 60% crude from NNPCL
• National assembly, executive agree on live coverage of proceedings

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

Stakeholders in the oil and Gas Sector of the Nigerian economy Wednesday agreed to expose all forms of sabotage and criminal activities bedeviling the sector not minding whose ox is gored.

The words of assurance came during an interactive session organised by the Senate Adhoc Committee probing sabotage in the oil and gas sector, chaired by the Senate Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele.

Participants at the forum, further agreed that the investigative public hearing should be aired live on national televisions and other media platforms.

Authorities of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company also seized the opportunity to clear the air on the recent face-off between the two establishment.

While the NNPCL management distanced the organization from any form of sabotage and deliberate stalling the take off of private refineries in the country, the Dangote firm denied attempt to monopolise the oil and gas sector in the country.

In his submission, Kyari, the NNPCL boss, claimed that NNPCL “is loyal and faithful to the country,” saying its management vowed to protect the interest of Nigeria in the petroleum industry.

He observed that most problems in the petroleum industry “have nothing to do with NNPCL.

“We are faithful and loyal to the economic interest of this country. We are not criminals. We are not thieves. But we will protect our dignity and honour,” he added

The NNPCL bosss said it was not possible to frustrate any private refinery because the Petroleum Industry Act had limited the roles of each regulator in the oil and gas sector.

He said, “The NNPC is a company owned by over 200 million Nigerians. And I happen to be the chief executive of this company. The law is clear around what the chief executive of this company will do.

“Our memorandum article of association, the Petroleum Industry Act, and all other enabling, including the Company and Allied Matters Act, (CAMA), which was legislated by this Honourable National Assembly had listed our roles.

“I will wait for the public hearing to reveal certain things. I also agree with my the Minister that it should be broadcast live so that Nigerians will hear us. So that all the misinformation that you see today will be put to the side, so that Nigerians will know the truth.

“All of us here see what is happening in the media. Targeted personal attack on my person, on the institution, and we all know how this works.They are deliberate, they are calculated.

“It creates the impression that NNPC Limited and our leadership are doing anything to create economic sabotage in our country. It is far from it.

“I assure you, Mr. Chairman, that the NNPC Limited and its board of directors and its shareholders are faithful, loyal to this country.

“We do not lie to this country. And we do nothing to sabotage the economic interests of this country. As a matter of fact, NNPC is the economic interest of this country.”

In its response, Dangote Refinery, through its Group Strategy Officer, Aliyu Suleiman, said the firm had so far, bought about 50 million barrels of crude.

Sulaiman said, “About 60% of that comes from the NNPC, and we are thankful to them for their support. And we’re grateful to them for their support.

“About 20% of that (crude) had to be imported from outside and the other 20% we purchased.

“Essentially, all we are asking for, and let’s be very clear, we are happy to pay fair prices.

“We are very happy with the price that they set price like supermarkets and that’s when we buy it. But what we buy from others is what we think the regulator should look at and the good thing the regulator has done, has published a guideline that will address some of this.

“We hope that we’ll work with the regulator and we’ll get their support so that 100% of Nigerian crude, the refinery can get 100% of its crude from Nigeria and buy the crude from companies that produce it in Nigeria

not from international middlemen.

“Whatever the prices, as long as it is in Nigeria, and that’s the price also that the producer will pay their tax on, we’ll be happy to pay that.

“Since the refinery started full trial production in January and then full time production started in March, since then we processed about 50 million barrels

“We’ve produced about five million tons of petroleum products. And these petroleum products have been sold to various parts of the country.

“Jet has been sold in Europe since May. It’s been sent to Europe. Other products have been sent to places as far as Asia, US, Brazil, and so on. So the refinery has been making a lot of progress.

“We have produced five million tons of products, but about 90% of it had to be exported. While at the same time, the products we were producing had been imported into Nigeria.

“We find ourselves competing against Russian products that have been produced with oil that is valued at $60.

“We all know that because of the cap that has been put on, put on Russian oil, the value of Russian oil today in the market is $60.

“That’s what Russia is using to produce their products and those products are being sent in large quantities into Africa to compete with products that are produced in refineries that buy crude at $90.

“We don’t think this will be a fair competitive environment. It is normal to put protective measures. The US, for example, has done that, to protect their own industries against attack by China that subsidize their own industries and then sends them to the US.”

The Senate panel on the occasion, raised questions over the $1.5 billion approved in 2021 for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery with little or no result.

Consequently, the upper chamber lamented that it was unfair and wrong to treat government businesses or public companies as an orphan while private businesses were flourishing and thriving.

Bamidele, who is the Leader of the Senate and Chairman, of the adhoc panel investigating the Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry said the Federal Executive Council had approved the plan by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to rehabilitate and turn around the Port Harcourt Refinery with a whopping sum of $1.5 billion under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He noted that despite the huge investment, the government-owned refinery is yet to function effectively, a situation that compelled the country to depend almost entirely on the importation of petroleum products.

Bamidele expressed grave concerns about the dysfunctionality of the government-owned refineries despite billions of Dollars invested to carry out turn-around maintenance on the installation.

He observed that the federation “is undergoing a truly challenging period,” pointing out that the distribution and supply of refined petroleum products “has been irregular and problematic in the recent history of our fatherland.”

“In 2021, specifically, the Federal Executive Council approved $1.5 billion for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery. Yet, this investment has not yielded significant returns.

“For us, in the Senate, we believe, it is unfair and unpatriotic to treat government businesses or public corporations as an orphan while private businesses are flourishing and thriving,” Bamidele pointed out at the interactive session.

The session was attended by Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun; Minister of State (Petroleum), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri; and the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), Malam Melee Kyari.

They also included the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Mr. Gbenga Komolafe; the Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, major and independent oil marketers, among others

In his own remarks, Edun said the increase in the crude would stabilise the country’s foreign exchange market while expressing confidence in the leadership of the ad-hoc committee to conduct an unbiased and impartial investigation.

The National President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria ( IPMAN) , Alhaji Abubakar Shettima in his presentation , loudly admonished the committee against monopoly in the petroleum sector .

“The current value chain in the downstream should be sustained to allow other investors to participate .

“NNPCL is doing its best but should please improve on supply of products to retail outlets across the country to end the incessant queue at filling stations, ” he said.