The federal government has turned to Niger Republic for the supply of crude oil to the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company, KRPC.
The decision is based on several bottlenecks that have hindered the supply of crude oil from the South-Southern part of Nigeria to KRPC.
This move is expected to spur KPRC into full operation.
The Group Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Maikanti Baru, during the weekend disclosed the federal government ongoing plans to construct 1,000km crude oil pipelines from Niger Republic to Kaduna refinery.
He stated this at a town hall meeting with the management and staff of KRPC in Kaduna.
“Due to challenges with the aged refinery and crude oil pipelines that had been breached severally, the operations of the refinery have been epileptic.
“This we are determined to resolve through various intervention methods, including evaluation of alternative crude oil supply from Niger Republic through building of a pipelines of over 1, 000 kilometers from Agadem to Kaduna.
“That effort is being championed by Mr. President himself.
“It was important to explore alternative crude supply to KRPC, which has been affected by vandalism of pipelines and obsolescence, assuring that the initiative will reduce downtime of the plant and ensure optimal utilisation.
“The Corporation has already started engagements with the Nigerien Minister of Petroleum and the Chinese that are operating the field at Agadem (The Agadem Block is located in the East Niger Rift Basin).” He said
The refinery, which was constructed by Chiyoda Chemical Engineering and Construction Company (now Chiyoda Corporation) of Japan was designed to process both imported paraffinic and Nigerian crude oils into fuels and lubes products.
