Petroleum (Oil), Senator
Heineken Lokpobiri,
has commended Waltersmith
Group and the Nigerian
Content Development and
Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
for supporting the Federal
Government agenda of
improving domestic refining
capacity.
Speaking on Tuesday during
a facility tour of Waltersmith
Petroman Oil Limited,
Ibigwe, Ohaji-Egbema Local
Government Area of Imo
State, the Minister expressed
his satisfaction toward the
company and NCDMB for taking the bull by the horn to commence local refining of
crude and partially meeting
the demand of the local.
According to him, “The
quickest way to fix our
energy challenge in the
country should be through
modular refineries, while we await the total rehabilitation of the big refineries.” The
5,000-barrel per stream
day Waltersmith Petroman,
which has been a stable
source of diesel, kerosene,
naphta, and high fuel oil to
the domestic market since
its commissioning in 2020,
was for him a proof of how
beneficial such smaller
processing plants could be.
Lokpobiri expressed
his commendation on the
Board for taking up equity
in Waltersmith Refinery
which quickly facilitated the
completion of the modular.
refinery. While commending
Waltersmith Group, the
Minister charged companies
who have been given
the license for modular
refineries and marginal field
licenses to take cues from
Waltersmith and make
deliberate investments.
In his words, “If you have a
marginal field, an allocation,
it is a paper given to you, it
doesn’t add value to you or
to Nigeria, unless you take it
to the next level by making
the requisite investment and
then adding the value that is
expected.”
