This was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Amb. Gabriel Tanimu Aduda at a workshop in Abuja on Thursday, 3rd November, 2022.
The Permanent Secretary who was represented at the workshop by the Director, Midstream, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Engr. Felix O. Okeke, FNSE, said that the role of Pipeline in fluid transport cannot be overemphasized.
Aduda expressed government desires to allow for private sector participation in the pipeline segment of the petroleum industry while craving partnership to bridge the infrastructural gap in the segment, especially as the country has adopted gas as her transition fuel and its centrality as a source of energy
He informed that Nigeria has two (2) crude delivery pipeline networks to the refineries which include; the Escravos-Warri-Kaduna Pipeline system and the Bonny-Port Hacourt pipeline system, all originating from crude export terminals.
“The 5,120 Kilometers of Pipeline Network were also built for the distribution of Petroleum products from the four refineries, with a capacity of 445, 000 barrels of crude per day to storage depots across the country, and about 3, 000 kilometers of Gas pipeline network,” he said.
In his remarks, Okeke informed that over the years, ownership of pipeline assets in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry had been the exclusive preserve of Government.
This project, he noted was conceived with the intention to bring private investors to operate pipeline assets as it is the desire of the Ministry to develop a framework for easy and efficient concessioning of oil and gas pipelines, which will enable private companies to design, construct and operate pipeline infrastructure.
The Resource person, Mr. Joe Nwakwue, Partner, Zera Advisory and Consulting, stated that the quality of service depended on the cost and reliability of the product, hence delivery of the product was of essence to national growth and development.
He urged government to consider upgrading the pipeline Master Plan which was developed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) twenty years ago. He also suggested that there was need for the the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to rewrite the existing Master plan and to own it as it would facilitate the attainment of the Ministry’s mandate of ensuring an enabling environment for investors.
Mr Nwakwue said that concessions enable competition for the market (as opposed to competition in the market).
The Assistant Director, Midstream Department, Mrs. Olamide Adewale in her remarks sued for cooperation in making the Pipeline concessioning a success.