Business
Port Harcourt Refinery Set for Commercial Production Soon
Nigeria’s oil marketers are expressing renewed optimism about the Port Harcourt Refinery’s imminent start of commercial production.
According to Billy Gillis-Harry, the national president of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, his recent visit to the refinery, which has a capacity of 250 barrels per day, revealed that it is now prepared to produce petroleum products on a commercial scale.
Gillis-Harry noted that both the Port Harcourt Refinery and the Dangote Refinery are crucial for eliminating fuel shortages in Nigeria.
He emphasized that significant progress has been made, and he is hopeful that the refinery will begin operations in the near future. His firsthand observation of the efforts underway at the refinery supports this optimism.
In an interview with oil and gas expert Zakka Bala, it was highlighted that the future of Nigeria’s energy security depends significantly on the successful revitalization of key government-owned refineries, including those in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna.
Bala pointed out that while the Dangote Refinery operates as a profit-driven private entity, the government-owned refineries are intended to serve the public’s needs.
Bala expressed concern that private refineries, which are focused on maximizing profits, might undermine the success of national refineries if they begin receiving crude allocations from them.
He stressed the need for the government to ensure that these national refineries are allowed to thrive and serve the public interest.
This development follows an earlier projection by Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), who had anticipated that the Port Harcourt Refinery would begin operations in August 2024.
The NNPCL had previously set March and July 2024 as tentative dates for the refinery’s operational launch, following its mechanical completion in December of the previous year.
The refinery’s turnaround maintenance, which began in 2021, involved a significant investment of $1.5 billion.
This substantial expenditure has recently attracted scrutiny, with Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman of the Senate Committee investigating alleged economic sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, calling for an investigation into the use of these funds.
Overall, the successful commencement of the Port Harcourt Refinery’s operations is seen as a pivotal moment for Nigeria’s energy sector, potentially bringing an end to persistent fuel shortages and strengthening national energy security.
Business
Dangote Refinery Resumes Import Of Oil from the US to Increase Production Capacity
Dangote Refinery has resumed its acquisition of crude oil from the United States, marking a significant shift in its strategy to boost refining capacity and overall production.
In a report by Bloomberg on Wednesday, it was revealed that a cargo of two million barrels of WTI Midland crude, sourced from Chevron Corp., is expected to be delivered to Dangote Refinery next month.
This marks the first purchase of US oil since the refinery paused foreign crude imports.
The move indicates a shift in the refinery’s supply strategy, which had previously been focused on Nigerian crude, particularly as it seeks to ramp up operations.
This new purchase raises questions about the status of the Nigerian government’s Naira-for-crude deal, which was hinted at in early October 2024.
The agreement, aimed at trading crude oil in exchange for the Nigerian naira, has faced uncertainty.
Some experts suggest that the deal might be stalling, or that the refinery might not be receiving the expected crude oil supply from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC).
Dangote Refinery’s recent decision to purchase crude from Chevron, a major US oil company, comes at a time when the refinery is actively scaling up production capabilities.
The refinery had been under intense scrutiny as it works toward becoming a key player in Nigeria’s oil industry.
While it had been procuring Nigerian oil, this new shipment of WTI Midland crude from the US underscores its reliance on diverse global suppliers to meet its production goals.
In fact, Chevron has reportedly booked the supertanker Azure Nova to transport the crude from the US Gulf, with the shipment scheduled to arrive at Dangote Refinery around December 5.
While the Nigerian government’s Naira-for-crude initiative remains in question, economist Kelvin Emmanuel recently stated that Dangote Refinery still purchases crude from the Nigerian government in dollars, suggesting that the refinery’s operations may not yet fully align with the federal government’s policy on local crude sales.
Business
NNPCL Launches Utapate Crude to Increase Nigeria’s Oil Exports
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has officially launched a new crude oil grade, the Utapate crude oil blend, to enhance the country’s foreign currency earnings and increase its presence in the global energy market.
NNPCL spokesperson Olufemi Soneye made the announcement in a statement on Wednesday.
This significant development was unveiled at the Argus European Crude Conference, held in London, where the Managing Director of NNPC E & P Limited (NEPL), Nicholas Foucart, emphasized that the introduction of Utapate marks a milestone for Nigeria’s crude oil exports.
Foucart shared that production of the Utapate Field began in May 2024, and since then, the output has grown rapidly to 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) with minimal downtime.
He highlighted that five cargoes of the new blend have already been exported, mainly to Spain and the East Coast of the United States.
Additionally, two more cargoes are scheduled for shipment in November and December 2024, further boosting Nigeria’s crude oil exports.
One of the key reasons for Utapate’s success in the international market is its highly attractive qualities, according to Foucart.
The Utapate crude is sourced from Oil Mining Lease (OML) 13, which is fully operated by NEPL and its partner Natural Oilfield Services Ltd (NOSL), a subsidiary of SEEPCO Ltd. OML 13 holds significant reserves, including 330 million barrels of crude oil, 45 million barrels of condensate, and an impressive 3.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas.
This rich reserve underpins the potential for future growth in Nigeria’s crude oil production.
Looking ahead, Foucart outlined plans to ramp up production from the current 40,000 barrels per day to 50,000 bpd by January 2025.
By June 2025, production is expected to reach between 60,000 and 65,000 bpd, with a longer-term target of 80,000 bpd by the end of 2025.
Lawal Sade, Managing Director of NNPC Trading Limited, explained that the pricing structure of the Utapate blend is similar to that of the Amenam crude.
This is because both are light sweet crudes, highly valued by refiners worldwide for their low sulphur content and efficient yield of high-quality refined products.
The API gravity and other properties of Utapate make it an attractive option for global refineries.
Business
Dangote Petroleum Refinery Begins Exportation Of Products To Neighbouring West African Countries
Dangote Petroleum Refinery begins exportation of products to neighbouring West African countries. A report was made that the Dangote refinery just shipped gasoline to the coast of Togo, West Africa. Although the shipment of the gasoline is going to the coast of Togo it can also be taken somewhere else in West Africa.
Chairman of NPA, Ghana speaks at the OTL Africa Downstream Oil Conference in Lagos states that importing from Nigeria reduces prices and freight costs for them rather than importing from Europe.
“If the refinery reaches 650,000bpd a day capacity, all that volume cannot be consumed by Nigeria alone, so instead of us importing as we do right now from Rotterdam, it will be much easier for us to import from Nigeria and I believe that will bring down our prices,”
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