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The Kaduna Refinery will commence operations by the end of next year, according to projections by the Federal Government.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobiri, made this known during an inspection tour of the refinery on Saturday, October 28, 2023.
Recall the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) signed an agreement with a Korean Company, Daewoo Engineering and Construction Nigeria Limited for the rehabilitation of the refinery.
Lokpobiri, who took a tour of the facility to assess the level of ongoing rehabilitation, announced that the project would be completed by the end of 2024.
The minister was accompanied on the tour by the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kolo Kyari, and other senior officials of the ministry.
The Managing Director of Kaduna Refinery, Mustapha Sugungun, acted as the tour guide and showed the minister and his team around the facility.
Official sources disclosed that the last turnaround maintenance of the Kaduna Refinery was carried out about 15 years ago.
However, impressed by the progress made so far by the contractor handling the project, the petroleum minister expressed optimism that the facility will come on stream by the fourth quarter of next year, an optimism also shared by the NNPCL boss.
Lokpobiri also reiterated the Federal Government's commitment to end petrol importation through the resuscitation of the national refineries.
With the capacity to produce 110,000 bpd, the Kaduna Refinery is one of Nigeria's four moribund refineries that have failed to produce a drop of petrol for many years.
The dysfunctional state of these refineries has left the country to rely solely on imported petroleum products, which has proven to be a burden on the national purse.
Though one of the biggest oil-producing countries in the world, Nigeria has continued to rely on refined fuel from foreign countries to serve its ever-growing population.
Due to the non-sustainability of the policy, President Bola Tinubu announced the removal of fuel subsidy payments during his inaugural speech. The decision has led to an all-time increase in the price of petrol.