The House of Representatives will ascertain the production capacity of the refineries in the country soon.
Prior to this period, the House had set up an ad-hoc committee to investigate the issue.
The committee will also investigate the daily consumption of premium motor spirits (PMS) in the country.
Speaking on the issue in Abuja, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, said the investigation was going to be thorough and all encompassing, adding that various aspects of refining processes shall be look into by the committee.
He said that it was important to first investigate the state of the refineries and further ascertain the cost of returning them to optimal performance.
Reacting to a motion raised by the minority leader, Ndudi Elumelu, on the need to address the issue of fuel subsidy in the country, he said that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the sum of $2.97 billion for the rehabilitation of Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries.
He said: “The rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna refineries will be awarded to Messers Saipem SPA and Saipem Contracting Limited at the combined total sum of $1.484 billion and will be rehabilitated in three phases of 21, 23 and 33 months.”
Recalled that government had, in March 2021, approved the sum of $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery in Rivers State. Out of this, a total sum of $897,678,800 will be spent to repair Warri refinery, while Kaduna refinery will gulp $586,902,256. The rehabilitation exercise will be in three phases spread over 77 months.
“The completion of the rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna refineries is going to be in three phases. The first phase will be completed within 21 months, in 23 months phase two will be completed and in 33 months, the full rehabilitation will be completed,” he said.
On Port Harcourt Refinery, repair work had commenced. Already the first 15 per cent of the contract sum has been paid to the contractor and the contractor was fully mobilised to site.
In June, Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, had said the rehabilitation of the refineries, in conjunction with private efforts such as the Dangote Refinery, would transform Nigeria into a “hub of petroleum products and supply.”
