A former Group Basic Supervisor of Planning on the defunct Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Company, Babajide Soyode, has mentioned no personal operator can be keen to amass the Port Harcourt Oil Refining Firm from the federal government for $2 billion.
Soyode said this in an interview with our correspondent in Lagos.
The chemical engineer questioned why the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Company Restricted would require an operator to have $2 billion to amass the newly rehabilitated oil refinery.
The PONS reviews that the NNPCL mentioned it wished to interact respected and credible operation and upkeep firms to function and preserve the Port Harcourt Refining Firm.
This, it mentioned, was “to make sure reliability and sustainability in assembly the nation's gasoline provide and power safety obligations.”
NNPCL requested firms to “display a minimal common annual turnover of no less than US$2 billion for the monetary years ending 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively”.
Reacting to this, Soyode, Technical Advisor to Dangote Oil Refinery, mentioned: “There’s nothing unsuitable with handing over the refinery to a non-public operator. It is dependent upon the situations. With the situations given, they don't need anybody to handle the refinery. How are you going to ask me to have $2 billion to run the refinery? What’s the worth of the refinery that I would like $2 billion for? What number of service firms have $2 billion? I assumed they had been severe, however they're not severe.”
The retired NNPC supervisor opined that the Port Harcourt refinery and different government-owned refineries ought to have been modernized as an alternative of rehabilitation.
“There isn’t a motive why the refineries that had been among the many greatest once we constructed them ought to have declined. I’ve to inform you that the refineries haven’t gotten any worse; administration has made them worse.
“Even when the refineries are outdated, they are often upgraded to the most recent expertise. This so-called rehabilitation, let me inform you, tools constructed within the 60s and 70s, do you need to rehabilitate them in the identical situation? Does it make sense?” he requested.
He really helpful that the federal government's 'dying' refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna must be merged into one, whereas 65 p.c of the share capital must be privatized.
“NNPCL ought to nonetheless have substantial fairness, however not controlling fairness. That's the one method ahead. There’s nothing unsuitable with the refineries. There are quite a lot of older refineries in Houston, everywhere in the world,” Soyode famous.
