Kaduna Refinery
•Hijack feedstock, Refine in Neighbouring Countries for Nigerian market
The main feedstock meant for the Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KPRC) Ltd are being bought for export by a cartel operating at the refinery, following the inability of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to fix the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU), which accounts for 80 per cent of the refinery output, investigation has shown.
The feedstock, which comprises light and heavy oil, as well as long residue, are the three by-products from crude oil that the refinery’s FCCU draws from to produce marketable petroleum products.
Although, the NNPC, THISDAY learnt, has been spending huge sums of money in the last 10 months to fix the facility, insiders said: “The fact that the FCCU’s feedstock is being diverted by a cartel means that the corporation has not been able to repair the facility and so, the fund may have gone down the drain.”
Further checks revealed that following the inability of the company to get the FCCU up and running, the feedstock is now being shipped by the cartel to other refineries in neighbouring countries.
It was gathered that the feedstock, which are sold at “ridiculous” prices to the cartel, are refined into marketable petroleum products in other countries and imported to Nigeria at prevailing international market prices.
When contacted, NNPC’s spokesman, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, said the refinery was performing at a capacity of between 60 and 70 per cent, noting that the FCCU had been “coming up and going down”.
He however said the facts on the issues of light and heavy oil, as well as the long residue, were not available to him.
NNPC’s Group Executive Director (GED) in charge of Refining and Petrochemicals, Mr. Philip Chukwu, referred THISDAY to the Managing Director of the KRPC, Mr. Bola Ayodele, whom he said “is on ground” to comment on the issues. But efforts to reach the managing director before going to the press failed.
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