The Kaduna Refinery & Petrochemical Company (KRPC) Limited will be renovated, according to a deal that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited yesterday signed with Daewoo Engineering & Construction Nigeria Limited. The KPRC Quick-fix Contract, worth US$740.6 million, is expected to be finished in 21 months and will allow the refinery to run at a minimum capacity utilisation of 60%.

The contract is a follow-up to the memorandum of understanding for the restoration of the refinery that NNPC and the Daewoo Group of South Korea inked last October on the sidelines of the 2022 World Bio Summit in Seoul, South Korea.

Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., Mele Kolo Kyari, stated that the oil firm aims to restore 18 million litres of refining capacity with the Kaduna, Warri, and Port Harcourt refineries during the contract signing ceremony yesterday at the NNPC headquarters in Abuja.

He added that a developing nation can’t discuss energy security without bringing up petroleum products, and the only way we can ensure this is by restoring local refining capability.

Kyari also said this “will also complement the potentials at Dangote Refinery, which we have 20 per cent equity and ultimately we are very, very hopeful that this year this country would be self-sufficient in the supply of petroleum products into our country, particularly gasoline.”

One of Nigeria’s four refineries, with a production capacity of 110,000 barrels per day, Kaduna, has been unable to generate fuel for many years, forcing the nation to rely on imported petroleum products. Port Harcourt (PHRC), the largest state-run refinery, is presently being maintained by the Italian company Tecnimont.