Inadequate power supply has continued to take its toll on the nation’s economy as operations at the Port Harcourt Refinery have been completely crippled owing to electricity constraints.
On a brighter note, major oil marketing company, Conoil Plc, has commenced moves to establish mega retail outlets in the West African sub-region in a bid to extend its business portfolio and create a platform to diversify its earnings, THISDAY has learnt.
A top-ranking official at the Port Harcourt Refinery told THISDAY yesterday that efforts to bring the plant back on stream last week were hampered by constant power failures.
He said maintenance and rehabilitation work were carried out on some vital units of the refinery but that due to power outages, the refinery could not be reopened.
“As you know, the Port Harcourt Refinery has been down for some time now, even for years. But last week, we tried to start it up, but there was power problem. Yesterday, we tried again, it did not work. But light has come back, but the processing units are still bad, so we could not start it again,” he said.
The Warri and Kaduna Refineries had been shut down for years due to vandalism of their feeder pipelines and since then efforts to fix them have not yielded any result. But activities at the Port Harcourt Refinery had been affected by what industry sources described as “long-running power problem”.
However, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corpo-ration (NNPC) late last month claimed that the Warri and Kaduna Refineries had commenced production of petroleum products. The corporation said the Kaduna Refinery, which was shut down in November, 2008 for the mandatory Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) scheduled for November 15, 2008, fully came on stream on February 19, 2010 and has stabilised at 60 per cent capacity.
The corporation’s spokesman, Dr. Levi Ajuonuma, had disclosed that the Kaduna refinery was currently producing petrol, kerosene, diesel and low pour fuel oil.
Meanwhile, Conoil is targeting West African countries such as Ghana and Togo where the downstream petroleum sector is fully deregulated.
Top officials of the company have reportedly carried out detailed feasibility reports on some of these countries and business is expected to commence in Togo and Ghana in due course.
The offshore retail expansion project, according to industry sources, is projected to cost the company around $50 million (about N7.5 billion).
It is projected that the returns would be worth the huge investment given the robust markets that exist in the countries being targeted.
The plan, it was gathered, is to construct at least five mega stations in each of the two countries under the first phase of the expansion programme.
Already, a consortium of engineers has been commissioned to design the stations to Conoil standards.
“Conoil is exploring the West African market to export its mega stations models to the countries. It is one project that has been on the card for some time now, aimed at deploying resources and playing active role in the emerging robust petroleum marketing sector in the sub-region,” the source said.
Conoil pioneered the construction of new generation fuel retail outlets (dubbed mega stations) in Nigeria, where the outlet is a unique architectural masterpiece fitted with top-class facilities, including high-tech non-space fuel dispensing pumps, to offer variety of services to consumers, comparable to those in Europe and other developed parts of the world.
The offshore investment drive, as learnt, has already received the backing of the Nigerian petroleum regulatory authorities, which is in line with the government’s oil sector reform plan to promote the country’s indigenous enterprises to be major players in both local and overseas markets.
Company sources said Conoil’s strategic move into the West African market is in consonance with the Mike Adenuga Group business strategy of spreading its tentacles beyond Nigeria, with the African continent as its ultimate goal.
Adenuga, the Conoil Chairman, has often reiterated the company’s determination to set new standards of service delivery, strengthen its capital base to enable it access the real opportunities at home and abroad in order to drive its business to a more profitable level.
Industry analysts point out that for instance, with Ghana fast transforming into an oil-producing country, that country’s downstream petroleum sector is projected to grow significantly and provide opportunities for good returns on investment.
The regulated regime in the Nigerian downstream oil sector has tightened profit on fuel retailing and meant marginal returns on the huge investments expended by oil companies to provide fuel for Nigeria’s over 140 million people.
But Conoil officials said the company was willing to go the extra mile to grow both its top-line and bottom-line with a view to boosting shareholder value.
It was gathered that apart from the offshore investment drive, the company has also put in place strategic expansion programme of its retail network across the country with the aim of increasing turnover from premium motor spirit by 60 per cent.
“Conoil plans to build 50 more retail outlets in Nigeria this year. This will consist of 10 mega retail outlets to be built in major cities across Nigeria and 40 others to be inducted as dealer-owned also across major cities in the country,” the source said.
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