IPMAN president decries comatose state of Nigeria's refineries
By Sulaimon Salau
PETROLEUM products marketers under the aegis of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) have raised concern over the under-utilisation of the nation's four refineries which has resulted in importation of larger percentage of products consumed locally over the years.
It, however, tasked the Federal Government to hasten the process of its intending emergency in the energy sector in other to find a lasting solution to the menace, which it claimed caused high cost of petroleum products in Nigeria.
National President of the association, Mr. Tunde Runsewe, who made the call at the meeting of the downstream operators in Lagos recently, said, "the high cost of crude oil (at about $80 per barrel) at the international market made it impossible for importation to match recommended selling price and the existing business parameters in the downstream sector within the country."
He claimed that the Federal Government's Petroleum Support Fund (PSF) initiative had refused to provide an answer due to paucity of fund to meet the short fall in the PSF reimbursement.
According to Runsewe, the source of supply of petroleum products mainly white products into the Nigerian market had been through importation and was mainly as a result of the poor performing stage of our refineries.
He said, "despite Nigeria's top rank as the sixth largest producer of crude oil, we cannot talk of exporting of refined petroleum product when the local demand had not been met. And it is disgusting that with four refineries of installed capacity to refine 455,000 pbd, the government managed refineries has failed to provide the answer to ever increasing local consumption not to talk of exportation which resulted in dependence on importation."
The optimum refining capacity ever achieved by the four refineries is recorded at 360,000 bpd.
Citing the case of Algeria and Egypt, Runsewe said IPMAN don't see reason why Algeria with four functional refineries of about 450,000 bpd and Egypt with nine refineries can be in business and Nigeria being giant of Africa cannot operate successful refineries for a decade.
"The billions of dollars we expend on petroleum product subsidy for the past years can build refineries. It takes only three years to build a new refinery while Nigeria cannot find solution to the decayed Nigerian refineries for over ten years."
He, however, lauded the Federal Government for the reversal of the sale of some refineries to "core investors"
With all major stakeholders as owners of the refineries, the problem of pricing will be a thing of the past as all cost indices will be tabled, analysed to arrive at undisputed prices while nobody can monopolise the system under the name of deregulation.
With the present government of Yar' Adua that believes in rule of law and operational due process, the operators in the downstream can go to sleep with their two eyes firmly closed.
We have tasted the last four months and we have seen that the future is very bright. The non inclusion of IPMAN representative in Energy Council and Oil and Gas Committee recently inaugurated to find lasting solution to Energy Crisis is a minus on the part of the government.
