Refineries in the country are at least 30 years behind modern techno-logy, the NNPC indicated yes-terday in Kaduna. Dr Levi Ajuonuma, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC who made this known yesterday in Kaduna said: “The control room is three decades behind in tech-nology.
Nigeria should be proud of the NNPC team for keeping the refinery working with obsolete technology.” The Port Harcourt and Warri refineries were built much earlier than the one in Kaduna.
“Ordinarily and routinely, the TAM should be a two-yearly event but this is coming after 10 years of the last TAM.
“So you can appreciate the ingenuity of our highly skilled staff to carry out this job, ma-king things happen out of no-thing,” Ajuonuma said.
He said the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the Kaduna Refinery and Petroche-mical Company (KRPC), sche-duled to commence this week will not cause fuel scarcity du-ring the Sallah and Christmas ce-lebrations.
Speaking at the press confe-rence for the commencement of the TAM, Friday in Kaduna, he said the Corporation has made adequate arrangements to ensure fuel availability during the two celebrations.
Early this year the Federal Executive Council approved the KRPC TAM, which will gulp about $58 million.
He said, already, the KRPC has in stock refine fuel that will satisfy its immediate environ-ment for the short run. “We have made reservations to avoid scarcity, there is bridging from Lagos, people will enjoy their celebrations without any hiccup.”
According to him, as a result of the growing concern for quality TAM for the refinery, the corporation has engaged the services of the equipment manu-facturer from Hungry.
He said the KRPC TAM is long overdue because it is bill after two-two years “but today it is almost 10 years since the last TAM took place in the refi-nery”.
The Managing Director the KRPC, Engr. Olayinka Agoro, said that about 90 percent of the facilities needed for the TAM have arrived at the port waiting for clearance.
Engr Agoro said the TAM will improve the performance of the refinery as well as ensures fuel availability in the country.
He said the refinery has a daily production capacity of 60,000 barrels per day but now it can only produces 42,000 barrels. He assured that at the end of the exercise there is the possibility for it to produce more than its installed capacity.
He said the TAM will end by January 2009, and the refinery will continue to build crude oil stock in its tanks in order to avoid any shortcomings at the end of the exercise.