The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mallam Mele Kyari, yesterday poured cold water on calls for the legalisation of artisanal illegal refineries in the Niger Delta.
Kyari, who spoke on the state-run Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) described the so-called illegal refining facilities as mere cooking pots, insisting that growing demand for their official recognition were unfounded and unscientific.
For years, there have been persistent calls on the government to recognise small artisanal refiners in the Niger Delta to boost In-country fuel supply, rather than criminalising them.
But Kyari stated that the legalisation will not work, noting instead that modular refineries should be encouraged instead of illegal bunkering and refining.
"That's why there are licences given out for modular refineries and they can produce up to 1,000 barrels to 20,000 barrels per day. Refining is a science of its own. The cooking pots you are seeing are not refineries in any sense.
"There's simply no way you can convert these cooking pots to legal refineries. It's not possible. But modular refineries can be constructed and the NNPCL has a framework for supporting those who want to do modular refineries," the GCEO stated.
Kyari stated that it is possible to make modular refineries work, which the NNPCL will support, stating that it is important for the political leadership to back such moves.
According to him, the illegal refineries have been degraded in the Niger Delta, explaining that for the host communities the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) sets aside some funds for them which he said will make sure the areas are carried along.
The NNPCL boss stated that several arrests had been made by the security agencies , especially for people stealing Nigeria's oil, pointing out that the names were being kept secret for security reasons.
Kyari explained that the criminals or thieves were many , opining that whoever is involved will be arrested without exception.
" Not every member of those communities are involved. In fact , it's a very small minority of them and from our engagement with the communities, we know they are not happy with what is happening to the environment.
"We are joining them to get rid of the criminals, other wise it's difficult to explain why there are hundreds of illegal refineries along the pipelines," he said.
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According to him, marine activities have subsided in the last few days, with some confidence that the results are coming in.
Kyari described oil theft in the Niger Delta as massive, stating that all the pipelines have been negatively impacted, although the country is not "helpless" in its attempt to halt the menace.
He reiterated that technology was being deployed in tackling the problem but assured that the challenge was not insurmountable.
The GCEO stressed that direct stealing of the crude oil was being carried out in the region, admitting that Nigeria was losing about 700,000 barrels per day production to theft and shutdowns.
However, he added that what is actually directly stolen may not exceed 200,000 bpd, with the rest losses traceable to breakdowns and shutdowns.
"Sometimes, we have no choice than to shut down these facilities and it leads to production losses," he added.
