Fuel: After P’Harcourt Refinery Success, MURIC Lists 3 Reasons Why Kaduna Plant Should Be Next Focus
TheTalk.NG journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has a decade of business journalism experience with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.
Iba, Lagos state – A prominent faith-based human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has said with the revival of the Port Harcourt refinery, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) should expedite the scheduled reactivation of the Kaduna refinery.
In a statement released on Wednesday, November 27, obtained by TheTalk.NG, Professor Ishaq Akintola, MURIC’s executive director, argued that instead of turning attention to the Warri refinery in Delta state, the oil industry should focus on the Kaduna refinery “for security concerns, strategic planning, and geopolitical balancing”.
Amid fuel challenges in Nigeria, MURIC has made a case for the reactivation of the Kaduna refinery.Source: UGC
The group’s statement partly reads:
“Olufemi Soneye, spokesperson of NNPCL, was quoted as saying that the corporation’s attention would now turn to the second Port Harcourt refinery (the new one) and Warri refinery.
“But this will not be fair, in our humble opinion, because Kaduna refinery which has the capacity to produce 110,000 barrels per day (bpd) should be the next to be overhauled. This is for reasons of strategic planning, security concerns and geopolitical balancing. We must get our priorities right.
“With the Port Harcourt facility joining Dangote refinery in Southern Nigeria, the attention of the oil industry should shift to the north where no single refinery is functioning at present. No region or zone should be sidelined in the distribution of infrastructure.”
In addition, MURIC called on the NNPCL to accelerate action on oil exploration in the north.
It said:
“It has been revealed that hydrocarbon deposits have been found in commercial quantity in the Kolmani River II Well spanning Bauchi and Gombe States on the Upper Benue Trough, Gongola Basin, in the northeastern part of the country. This is necessary in order to mull arrogant claimants who refer to the north as a liability to the rest of the country and refer to the south as the nation’s cash cow. Such claims are false, baseless and reckless. We complement each other as equal partners in nation building. We must therefore eliminate the mantra of north-south dichotomy”.
MURIC’s 3 reasons for pro-Kaduna refinery stance:
- Security concerns.
- Strategic planning.
- Geopolitical balancing.
MURIC speaks on NNPC-Dangote relationship
Earlier, TheTalk.NG reported that MURIC said there is a mutual understanding between Dangote Refinery and the NNPCL which it (MURIC) admires.
In a statement, Prof. Akintola said the “cooperation” is commendable.
Source: TheTalk.NG
