Page 5 - Downstream Monitor - MEA Week 27
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DMEA Commentary DMEA
NNPC o cials has exacerbated a general lack of credibility.
modular movement
e nascent modular re ning industry has been a beacon of hope for the country as a means of cost-e ectively decentralising fuel production and improving distribution.
Investments have been announced in pro- jects in Bayelsa, Cross River and Imo states, and this week Abuja stated that an environmental impact assessment (eIA) was being carried out for a planned facility in edo State.
e edo Modular Re nery is to be developed by edo Re nery and Petrochemicals Company to process 6,000 bpd of local crude and produce refined products including kerosene, diesel, naphthalene and petrochemicals.
e project company was launched by the edo state administration of former investment banker Godwin Obaseki, who has previously been a major proponent of infrastructure pro- jects. In September 2018, a local government statement said that Obaseki had approved a state contribution of NGN700mn ($1.94mn) for the modular re nery.
is followed an earlier announcement that the state government had signed a memoran- dum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese rm Peiyang Chemical equipment Co. (PCC) for the construction of a 1,000 bpd re nery, which was anticipated to be completed in April 2019.
As has come to be expected from the Nige- rian downstream, statements about the project created confusion, with a subsequent announce- ment saying that the MoU had been signed with a consortium made up of PCC, Sinopec Interna- tional Petroleum Service Corp. (SIPS) and Afri- can Infrastructure Partners (AIP) for a 5,500 bpd
unit. Aside from the confusion, the news that the projects has moved to the eIA phase is encour- aging, particularly given the relative success of the comparable Waltersmith Re ning and Pet- rochemical’s 5,000 bpd Ibigwe modular re ning project in Imo State, which was recently said to be 65% complete ahead of Q2 2020 completion.
Downstream MEA understands that the edo project will be carried out in two phases, with the rst intended to complete a 500 bpd demonstra- tion re nery within 12 months and the second to construct a 5,000 bpd facility.
transparency
Misinformation and a lack of transparency have long plagued the Nigerian oil sector and previ- ous e orts to tackle both have brought few nota- ble results.
In Kyari’s wide-ranging and ambitious speech, he said that the NNPC would partner with local law enforcement agencies to fight corruption.
“ ere is no corruption where there is no discretion; we will work with the economic and Financial Crimes Commission (eFCC) to take out discretion in our system. NNPC will not be opaque, we will make what we do know to Nige- rians because we are working for them, and not doing them a favour,” he said.
Requesting that gi s should not be o ered to him or his family members, Kyari talked of greater engagement with the National Assem- bly, state governments, the extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (eITI) and the Nigeria eITI (NeITI).
While his support for the downstream sector and e orts to improve transparency are encour- aging, without swi tangible results, this will be seen as little more than lip service.
Week 27 10•July•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P5
