Page 16 - DMEA Week 32

DMEA REFINING DMEA

NNPC invites bids for repair of

refinery pipelines

NIGERIA NIGERIAN National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) The projects are being offered in four lots: Lot
has invited investors to bid to repair pipelines 1 covers infrastructure around Bonny and Port
The pipelines have and depots that serve its oil refineries in Kaduna, Harcourt, including a 210-km products pipeline;
suffered from years of Warri and Port Harcourt, it announced on Lot 2, meanwhile, relates to facilities around
“incessant” oil theft and August 11. Escravos and Warri; Lot 3 is for infrastructure
vandalism. The refineries, built in the 1970s, are in need in Kaduna and Kano, including a 604-km oil
of extensive repairs and modernisation. They pipeline from Warri to Kaduna, while Lot 4 is
can operate at only a fraction of their capacity, for work in the Atlas Cove and Mosimi areas.
achieving only 5.5% utilisation last year. NNPC Companies can bid for two of the lots but can
closed them down completely earlier this year to only be selected for one. NNPC will provide the
reduce losses. companies that pre-qualify with geotechnical
The pipelines that feed the plants with oil are and geophysical surveys and front-end engineer-
also in a state of disrepair, as a result of years of ing design (FEED) studies it has undertaken.
what NNPC described as “incessant” oil theft As Nigeria’s refining throughput has steadily
and vandalism. Their refurbishment will be car- fallen over the years, its fuel imports have stead-
ried out separately to the work at the refineries. ily crept up. This has placed a considerable finan-
Bidders will be required to fund the repairs cial burden on NNPC. The national oil company
themselves and operate the pipelines for a sells the supplies to consumers at subsidised
“defined period” so they can recoup their invest- rates, although reforms are now underway to
ments, NNPC said. During that time they will liberalise fuel prices.
collect oil transit fees. Besides the overhaul of its existing capacity,
The pipelines will also need to be equipped Nigeria is also awaiting the launch of the 650,000
with “intrusion detection” systems, and bur- barrel per day (bpd) privately owned Dangote
ied deeply, to make siphoning off oil illegally refinery next year. But the project, the largest
more difficult. Interested parties will need to of its kind in Africa, is already running years
submit their expressions of interest (EoIs) by behind schedule. Coronavirus (COVID-19)
September 18. disruptions mean further delays are probable. ™

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 32 13•August•2020