MUHAMMAD SABIU writes that the refinery set up with so much optimism has suddenly closed down and those who earn their living from activities in the complex have since looked elsewhere, though they sincerely hope that things would get better and economic activities return to normal.
AT the peak of its glory, the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC was a beehive for economic fortune seekers and migrant workers. All that was needed was for anyone seeking his daily bread to find a space, even a virtual one in the expansive complex and one can be sure of going home with something at the end of the day.
Even shoe cobblers and local manicurists did smile on their way home. But the smiles have all disappeared and so have the fuel-bearing tankers that thronged the refinery on a daily basis. Their drivers have since become jobless. The complex is virtually empty, save for a few oil tankers and some people who have nowhere to go, waiting and hoping that the magic might soon return.
The Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) was constructed by Chiyoda Company of Japan. Today, findings gathered that the current output of the refinery is put at 110,000 barrels per day. According to investigations, the fuel crisis of the 70s forced the country›s leadership at that time to start thinking of building the country’s third refinery. Thus, the decision to construct the Kaduna refinery was taken along with that of the second NNPC refinery located at Warri in 1974.
A report obtained by the Sunday Tribune noted that based on the feasibility studies carried out, which took into consideration the volume of consumption of the various petroleum products within the Northern Zone, and adequate means of disposal for the surplus products, a refinery with crude oil capacity of 42,000 barrels per stream day (BPSD) could be easily justified.
Hence, the refinery was designed for a capacity of 60,000 BPSD. It was much later that the Federal Government decided that the capacity for any refinery in Nigeria should not be below 100,000 BPSD. However, this would have led to the production of large quantity of heavy ends. And one practical and viable solution is reprocessing the heavy fuel oils.
In order to do this, the whole project plans had to be modified so that what was initially planned as a hydro skimming type refinery, developed into an integrated refinery. The refinery would now be able to produce a wider variety of petroleum products, some of which should be lubricating base oils. Hence, it became necessary to import suitable paraffinic based crude oil from Venezuela, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia.
Products from the refinery include; fuels for use such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel, Kerosene, Fuel Oil, Sulphur and those from the lubricating oils complex are base oils, asphalt (Bitumen) and waxes.
The lubricating oil complex of Kaduna Refinery is the first of its kind in West Africa and one of the largest in Africa. The refinery project was completed and the fuels plant was commissioned in 1980.
However the Lubes Plant was commissioned in 1983 and the Petrochemical Plant much later in 1988. The initial operation and maintenance was carried out by Nigerian technicians and expatriate personnel as technical back up.
By 1985, the Nigerian engineers and technicians had virtually taken over all the maintenance and operations of Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC). Over the years KRPC has remained in the business of refining crude oil into high quality petroleum products and the manufacturing of petrochemical and packaging products to the satisfaction of her customers.
Bad fortune sets in
However, by 1990 the fortunes of the company began to diminish. Today, the company is in comatose. The plant which used to parade itself as the biggest in West Africa is aged and outdated. To say the least, the company can best be described as a lame duck. Various attempts by past governments to make it work proved abortive for a number of reasons.
Indeed, the closure of the refinery have affected hundreds people who have no other place than the refinery to look for their daily bread. These people are the food vendors, the hawkers and car wash boys who came every day to ply their trade.
A food vendor who pleaded for anonymity remarked that she has been selling in the depot for the past five years. She said before the closure, she was making brisk business but it is no longer the case.› people don’t come anymore.
“The patronage has reduced drastically. So I have reduced the quantity of food,” she stressed.
Another vendor Fatima told the Sunday Tribune that people now buy food on credit. “You have no option than to sell on credit,” she said adding that in the years gone by when the refinery was as its peak she made between N15,000 to N20,000 every day. Today, if she›s lucky, she makes a paltry sum of N3,000 a day.
Fatima gesticulated towards the parking area where hundreds of trucks used to line up for loading of fuel; adding: “how many trucks do you see here now. “They are not even up-to 20 in number,”
A hawker, who also did not want to be named for personal reasons remarked that her daily income has dropped significantly. She attributed this to the closure of the refinery’
“If the trucks are loading petroleum products, the depot will be very busy with human activities with marketers making business transactions. At the end of the day they will patronise my goods,” she declared.
Seventeen-year-old Ibrahim has been a regular face at the depot for the past five years washing vehicles. Back then, he could wash up to 20 vehicles in a day. He was making money a lot of money then, but today his income has nose-dived
“Today, I barely wash up to six cars. Even at that, some will not pay me even a dime and some will just give a stipend like N100,” he stressed.
Findings also gathered that even banks at the depot are currently facing serious threat of survival. A bank clerk who pleaded for anonymity remarked that the patronage nowadays is very low. “The closure of the refinery has affected the depot. Only few marketers now come to transact business here. Worst still, our head offices are always on our neck mounting pressure on us to improve transactions, he said.”
However, an official in the refinery contended that it is not completely true that the refinery is not working, According to him,” NNPC is trying it›s best to ensure that fuel is available in the country,” adding that “people should guard against panic buying because there›s enough stock to meet people›s demands,”
His claim was, however, debunked by a union official who claimed that “our four refineries are not working. The official who is a member of the Independent Marketers Branch (IMB) of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers of Nigeria (NUPENG) told Sunday Tribune that “if our refineries are working there will be no cause for the scarcity bedeviling the nation.
“The whole thing centres on demand and supply which is the basic problem. Our demand is too high and we don›t have the products simple. So let›s stop playing politics.”
Why things are stagnant
During an interaction with Sunday Tribune, union members wondered how a company designed to process both paraffin and Nigerian crude oil into fuels and lubes products could be left to rot away. It was learnt further that the plant was shut down few weeks ago due to the non availability of crude. The Executive Director (Services) of the refinery, Abdullahi Idris also confirmed this in an interview with newsmen.
Sunday Tribune investigations also revealed that inconsistency in conducting Turn-Around Maintenance (TAM) is affecting the smooth operations of the ageing plant. Findings gathered further that most of the TAMs carried out in recent times failed to address the basic problems inherent in the plant. According to a source, any time the TAM is carried out the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) is not involved. It was learnt that the involvement of the OEM was necessary since it is in a better position to know the technicalities involved in the plant’s TAM.
Lack of manpower is another factor affecting the plant. Findings by the Sunday Tribune gathered that most of the highly qualified and experienced members of staff have left the system without replacement. More are also leaving either because they have attained the statutory retirement age or they had left voluntarily. A source lamented that it had seriously impacted negatively in the running of the plant.
Also, it was gathered that the control room in the plant is still running on analogue equipment. According to a former staff, Abubakar Ibrahim, “the, KRPC is the only refinery among the other three refineries in the country that is still operating on analogue control system,” adding that “there is the urgent need to change the analogue system to Digital.”
But even more serious is the issue of operational funding .A management staff who pleaded for anonymity remarked that for a very long time funds going to the refinery had become inadequate and was affecting the smooth operations of the ageing plant. Even the host community is concerned with the epileptic state of the refinery.
A resident of Mararaban Rido, Mallam Awwal Ibrahim lamented that the recent shut down of the plant is affecting the whole of the North, saying “This is the only refinery in the whole country and it is now closed. The government should do something about the situation of the plant as well as other three refineries.”
His view was corroborated by a journalist, Attahiru Ahmed whose view was that it is time to private all the existing refineries in the country. “If investors are allowed to take over the refinery, they would not allow it to die or be in its present state because they would have invested a lot of their resources in it.”
Similarly, a professor of Economics from the Kaduna State University, Ibrahim Umaru, suggested the establishment of more refineries in the country. Honestly speaking, private investors should be encouraged to establish refineries.
For now nobody knows when things would return to normalcy at the Kaduna refinery, especially now that the country is totally dependent on imported fuel and the federal government is not in a position to fund any Turn-around maintenance cost of refineries lying comatose.
Those whose lives revolve around the refinery have since sought their livelihood elsewhere but who knows the refinery may roar back to life sooner than expected and bring succor to the financially-distressed low and middle-income earners whose families’ well-being rests on the economic activities around the refinery.
and then