Economic sabotage :Navy uncovers another illegal refining site producing 2m litres of fuel per day

 

.As NNPCL projects 2mbpd crude oil production by year end, declares all time high profit of N3.297trn in 2023

..Naira crude oil sale to Dangote, others begins Oct 1st

 

 

Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt

 

 

The Nigerian Navy said it has discovered a massive illegal refining site in Rivers State.

 

The site is located around Ogoloma River in Bakana area in Degema local government area of the State.

 

The Commander, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Commodore Cajethan Nnabuchi Aniaku, while conducting Journalists round the area said the site is capable of producing two million litres of illegally petroleum products per day.

 

Aniaku said the discovery was in line with the directive of the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, to clear all illegal crude oil refining sites within their areas of responsibility and in continuation with the fight against crude oil theft.

 

The new Commander, NNS Pathfinder said the operation was successful after a sustained intelligence and surveillance effort by personnel of the Base.

 

He said, “In line with the Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla’s directive to clear NNS PATHFINDER Area of operations, this afternoon, we are around Ogoloma area where we discovered a massive Illegal refining site.

 

This site is capable of producing 2 million liters of illegally refined products daily. Our personnel moved in here yesterday with swampboogy.

 

“What we found out was quite revealing and striking in the sense that the oil thieves have moved away from the normal way of using metal frame pans to cook and refine illegal stolen crude oil, to AGOs and other bye products they are now using drums to do the refining and that offered them some tactical advantage in the sense that the drum is cheaper to construct and very easy to dismantle.

 

“As the Operation is still ongoing,  they have destroyed over 500 drums containing over 200 litres of AGO amounting to over million litres of AGO.”

 

Aniaku warned that the naval operatives will not rest until all illegal refining sites are destroyed, and urged the oil thieves to desist from their activities, stating that they will not be spared.

 

“We will not rest on our oars to see that we destroy these illegal refining sites appropriately.

 

“After this we will continue because this is not the only place. We will keep on searching, for us to discover this, it took us over five days intelligence and surveillance effort because ordinarily, if it is a metal drum with drones and surveillance patrol we will be able to discover that. But now they do not do it, they will use drums, do the cooking, dismantle the drums and hide them. So, we have to double our efforts to see that we are able to fish them out and clear all illegal refining sites. They should desist from doing that because we will not spare them,” he said.

 

.As NNPCL projects 2mbpd crude oil production by year end, declares all time high profit of N3.297trn in 2023

Meanwhile, The NNPC Limited has released its 2023 Audited Financial Statement (AFS), declaring a net profit of N3.297 trillion at the close of the financial year which ended in December 2023, an increase of over N700billion (28%) when compared to the 2022 profit of N2.548trillion.

 

In a world press conference held at the NNPC Towers in Abuja on Monday, the Chief Financial Officer of the Company, Mr. Umar Ajiya said the release of the AFS is a testament to the Company’s commitment to transparency and accountability.

“Our fiscal performance reflects both strategic foresight and operational resilience. Despite inherent challenges of our operational and economic environment, we have improved the productivity and the financial performance of this great company,” Ajiya stated.

Ajiya added that posting such impressive returns demonstrates NNPC Ltd’s commitment to sustaining profitability and supporting the attainment of national energy security as stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, and by extension, as expected by the Company’s shareholders.

Explaining that the NNPC Ltd will announce Initial Public offer (IPO) once the shareholders and Board make a decision, Ajiya also debunked claims on subsidy payment, saying the Company was only taking care of PMS importation shortfall between it and the Federation.

Speaking earlier at the press conference, the Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board, Chief Pius Akinyelure said that the excellent performance came as the fruit of the PIA 2021, the commitment of the Board, Management and staff of the company.

 

Akinyelure added that the shareholders of the company have since approved a final dividend of N2.1trn in line with PIA 2021 provisions.

In her remarks at the briefing, the Executive Vice President, Upstream, Mrs. Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan said with improvements witnessed as a result of the renewed vigour in the war against crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, NNPC Ltd is targeting 2million barrels per day crude oil production by the the end of the year.

On the current fuel queues in parts of Lagos and the FCT, the Executive Vice President, Downstream, Mr. Dapo Segun appealed for understanding from Nigerians, saying that the the Company is working with relevant stakeholders to address the distribution, evacuation and logistics challenges.

It would be recalled that in 2021, NNPC declared profit in its operations for the first time.  From a loss position of N803 billion in 2018, it reduced the loss further down to N1.7 billion in 2019.

 

However, in 2020, it posted its ‘first ever’ profit of N287 billion, then in 2021, it recorded a N674.1 billion profit and in 2022, the profit grew to N2.548, an unprecedented achievement in its financial performance. The N3.297 trillion profit declared for 2023 is the highest since the Company’s inception, 46 years ago.

 

 

Naira crude sale to Dangote, others begin October 1

 

However, The Federal Government has disclosed that sales of crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries will commence October 1, 2024.

 

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, made the announcement during a meeting with the Implementation Committee on Monday in Abuja.

 

According to a post on the official X (formerly Twitter) page of the finance ministry, the meeting was to review progress on key initiatives.

 

At the meeting, key roles were outlined for stakeholders, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and the African Export-Import Bank to ensure smooth implementation.

 

 

 

The post read, “The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, today led the Implementation Committee meeting on the transition to crude oil sales in naira.

 

“The meeting reviewed progress on key initiatives, including the upcoming commencement of naira payments for crude oil sales to the Dangote Refinery starting October 1, 2024.”

 

Also, the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Dr Zacch Adedeji, and the Chairman of the Technical Sub-Committee reported that “The first PMS delivery from Dangote is expected next month under existing agreements.”

 

It also stated that updates were provided on the Port Harcourt and Dangote Refineries were also provided, with significant production increases expected from November 2024.

The minister emphasised the need for transparency and directed the Technical Sub-Committee to finalize details and prepare a report for the President, confirming that his directives are on track for implementation from September.

 

Recall that the Federal Executive Council had on July 29 okayed President Tinubu’s proposal for NNPC to halt the sale of crude oil to local refineries in foreign currency.

 

The Federal Executive Council approved that the 450,000 barrels meant for domestic consumption be offered in Naira to Nigerian refineries, using the Dangote refinery as a pilot.

 

The move is to ensure the stability of the pump price of refined fuel and the dollar-naira exchange rate.

 

Findings show that Dangote Refinery, at the moment, requires 15 cargoes of crude oil yearly.

 

In response, the finance minister inaugurated a technical sub-committee tasked with developing the framework for the sale of crude oil to local refineries in naira.