Alternative crude for Kaduna refinery
The Federal Government last week disclosed plans to seek alternative supply of crude oil for the Kaduna Refinery from neighbouring Niger Republic, apparently due to unceasing attacks on oil pipelines from the Niger Delta. Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation’s [NNPC] Group Managing Director Dr. Maikanti Baru said government will build a 1,000 kilometer crude oil pipeline […]
The Federal Government last week disclosed plans to seek alternative supply of crude oil for the Kaduna Refinery from neighbouring Niger Republic, apparently due to unceasing attacks on oil pipelines from the Niger Delta. Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation’s [NNPC] Group Managing Director Dr. Maikanti Baru said government will build a 1,000 kilometer crude oil pipeline from Agadez in Niger Republic to Kaduna. He disclosed this at a meeting with KRPC’s staff.
Baru said the need to look for alternative supply of crude oil to the Kaduna refinery was necessitated by the challenges of an aged refinery and crude oil pipelines that had been breached several times. He said exploring alternative crude oil supply to KRPC “will reduce downtime of the plant and ensure optimal utilization.” Baru also said NNPC has started discussing the project with the Nigerien Minister of Petroleum as well as the Chinese that are operating the oil field at Agadez, located in the East Niger Rift Basin. President Muhammadu Buhari is personally committed to the project, Baru said.
It would be recalled that the Kaduna Refinery, constructed by Chiyoda Chemical Engineering and Construction Company of Japan in the late 1970s was designed to process both imported paraffinic and Nigerian crude oils into fuels and lube products. In December 1986, the design capacity of the refinery’s fuel plants was successfully debottlenecked from 50,000 barrels per stream day (BPSD) to 60,000 BPSD, bringing its total installed capacity to 110,000 BPSD.
Of this country’s four refineries, Kaduna refinery has the longest crude oil supply pipeline, making it most vulnerable to attacks by vandals. This explains why there are more cases of pipeline vandalisation on the Kaduna route, which regularly suffers destruction even in states outside the Niger Delta region such as Anambra and Kogi states. Since the resurgence of attacks by Niger Delta militant groups on oil installations last year, the federal government has adopted different approaches to bring the crisis to an end. However, efforts to forestall the bombing of oil facilities in the region have so far failed to yield the desired result. Thus, the federal government’s decision to seek alternative crude oil supplies for the Kaduna refinery appear to be logical in the short and medium term but problematic in the long run.
As government decides to execute this project, it should equally prepare for the subsequent challenges that are likely to confront it. A pipeline route of 1,000 kilometers is longer than the crude oil pipeline from the Niger Delta to Kaduna. The planned route looks tranquil now but no one knows what will happen in the future. While Nigerians are optimistic that the government will soon overcome security challenges in all parts of the country, an oil pipeline route of such length could one day be vulnerable to attacks by criminal groups that may not even be existing now. Also, while the Federal Government has full control over the economic parameters of crude oil produced on Nigerian soil, it could be in for a complicated relationship with a foreign supplier intent on cashing in on its new found wealth.
Pursuing this project may also give the impression that the Federal Government has given up on controlling militancy in the Niger Delta as well as activities of vandals in other parts of the country. We urge government not to give up on either one. In the long run having Nigeria’s crude oil refined within Nigeria’s borders has the most multiple advantages for the country. This project could free the Kaduna refinery from militants’ and vandals blackmail only to land it into another type of blackmail. Niger Republic is a very friendly neighbour and has always been so, but no one can guarantee future events.