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battery limits (IsBL) element, most importantly the modular unit itself, while Lambert is respon- sible for the outside battery limits (OsBL) work, that is, all the associated civil works, building storage tanks and so on.”
During a site visit this week, Wabote said that the Ibigwe re nery is now 65% complete ahead of Q2 2020 completion.
Greater good
According to Obionu, the re nery’s main objec- tive is to serve as a means of import substitu- tion to meet domestic demand for petroleum products internally. “Our re nery will improve domestic production of oil products and thereby reduce Nigeria’s dependence on high-cost imports and also reduce signi cant subsidy pay- ments,” he said.
Local communities also bene t: “6,550 jobs are being created during the construction phase, and953duringtheoperationalphase,”hesaid.
In line with the logic of modular re neries being able to use local sources of feedstock, Obi- onu said that the project bene ts from using oil from Waltersmith’s own interests at the Ibigwe eld. “Waltersmith is an e&P company. Our cur- rent production is 7,000 bpd and we will provide the necessary 5,000 bpd for the re nery from our current production as feedstock.”
The company acquired its concessions at Ibigwe in 2008, with production starting in 2009. Obionu said the new re nery would serve as a “ready outlet for additional value extraction for Ibigwe oil production and nearby third-party oil producers, particularly when the Trans-Niger Pipeline (TNP) is not available.”
Interference and outages at Nigerian oil pipeline facilities, as well as the and vandalism, routinely create volatility of oil supply to its re n- eries, and hamper their operations.
Integrated interests
A 41.4 million cubic metre (mcm) per year gas processing plant designed to enhance productiv- ity of Ibigwe by capturing and processing associ- ated gas production was completed in 2016.
Alongside the refinery will be a 300-MW capacity power generation plant, supplying electricity to local residential and business end-users.
Meanwhile, NCDMB is also keen to integrate through the midstream. Wabote explained that it is eager to take the same active approach to gas processing and utilisation. He said that dis- cussions were in progress with partners on the establishment of a plant to manufacture LPG cyl- inders,LPGdepots,andgasprocessingfacilities.
“One of the projects of interest is the estab- lishment of an inland LPG depot in Abuja to complement the federal government’s LPG Pen- etration Initiative,” he said.
e small scale re ning model clearly has legs in Nigeria, with projects making greater projects in just two or three years compared to the ongo- ing stagnation of e orts to revive the country’s chronically underperforming large refining facilities. Meanwhile, the vertical and horizon- tal integration through upstream, midstream, downstream and power o er signi cant busi- ness opportunities, while making the country less dependent on fuel marketers and vulnerable pipelines.™
work on the Ibigwe site. Source: Waltersmith
Week 25 26•June•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
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