Managing Director, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (KRPC), an arm of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Engineer Saidu Aliyu Mohammed has said that even if all the refineries in Nigeria produce fuel at 100 percent capacity, the country would continue to import fuel.
Speaking yesterday to declare open a workshop for energy correspondents in Kano, Mohammed said fuel importation was due to high demand by the end users of the product.
He also reacted to insinuation making the rounds in some quarters that imported bitumen is cheaper than the locally produced ones, saying that he was not aware of such.
In his words, “We will continue to import fuel as long as we cannot meet the demand because it is about demand and supply. If there is no much demand, we will not go for the importation. Even if all the refineries work at 100 percent capacity, we cannot meet the demand of 30 million litres per day, and we should not forget that some of our neighbours also depend on Nigeria for fuel. And those complaining about bitumen importation, it is not about whether one is cheaper than the other, anybody can buy the product from wherever he or she wishes, it is a free a market.
“In line with Mr. President’s transformation agenda, KRPC is working assiduously to bring the company to a full production capacity, move from cost to profit and self-sustaining centre with capability to grow investment, production output and revenue. “As a result of the improved operational efficiency, KRPC has been able to sustain the plant at about 60% design capacity from January, 2014 to date.
“In this regard, major units of the fuel section of the refinery including the crude and reforming units as well as fluid catalytic cracking unit had been re-streamed to provide the desired output. These units are still operational and our desire is to raise the capacity utilization to 80% before the end of the year. “In order to further improve and sustain the efficiency of the refinery, major rehabilitation works have commenced and are at various levels of completion.
