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CORAN urges the government to consider selling NNPC refineries as a means to finance modular plants.

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The Federal Government has been urged to consider selling the state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna in order to finance the development of modular refineries.

The Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria has urged for the sale of the refineries, asserting that this is the only solution to the ongoing fuel crisis plaguing the nation.

Eche Idoko, the Publicity Secretary of CORAN, raised concerns regarding the Federal Government’s investment of over $1 billion in the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery. Unfortunately, despite six delays, the refinery has still not commenced production.

He said, “We are not asking for free money. The government should set up an intervention fund in which people can access credit. So, it’s not free money. There are a lot of intervention funds in the agricultural sector,”

“The $1.5bn spent on the Port Harcourt refinery could be used to develop 10 modular refineries to be able to produce PMS of a minimum of 10,000 barrels per day. That is about 100,000 barrels a day.

“And if you have 100,000 barrels per day, at least, with the Dangote refinery, you would have solved that problem. We would actually have enough to begin to export,”

“The low-hanging fruit is simply to empower the modular refineries.

“A modular refinery takes an average of 12 to a maximum of 18 months to set up. This administration can identify and select from the modular refineries that are already on stream to support them.

“Right now, we have about 15 of them – five are operating but not producing PMS; the other 10 are at various stages of completion. If the government supported these 15 modular refineries to produce PMS, in about 12 months or less, they would have solved this problem of fuel scarcity, rather than say, you are putting money into the Port Harcourt refinery, Warri refinery, or Kaduna refinery.

“That was why there was a particular administration that tried to sell those facilities. Most of them are obsolete.

Technology has changed. I would have said that the government should sell them off. We know that the issue of fuel crisis is a serious issue, but do we have a solution to it now? We don’t have a quick-fix solution other than what is being done right now, which is importation.

“But that is simply not sustainable. For how long can you continue like this? And so, what we are saying is that give yourself a target of the time to completely wind down the importation of petroleum products. Bring stakeholders like the modular refineries and the traders together. We will all put our heads together and then work out a scheme.”

“Saudi Aramco is a purely private-loaned entity. It has shares, it has boards, it runs as a private entity. In the United States, in all the countries where you are seeing self-sufficiency in their refineries, the private sector takes the lead. All the government does is to create an enabling environment to provide support.”

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iPhone Xs | Xr are now on their 6th year receiving iOS updates

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iPhone XR, IPhone XS
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The iPhone XS and XR are indeed receiving their sixth round of iOS updates, which is a testament to Apple’s commitment to supporting their devices with the latest software.

This is great news for users who have stuck with these models, as they’ll continue to receive security patches, new features, and performance improvements.

Not on par with Samsung or Google, but still very impressive

Of course, the new features those devices actually get is a different story

 

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Enugu to Assemble 1,000 Tractors Locally by 2025, 300 Ready in 2024– Gov Mbah

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… as NECA lauds Mbah on economy, ease of doing business

As part of the effort of his administration to grow the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn and ensure food security, tractors needed for farming in Enugu State will be produced in the state before the end of the year, governor of the state, Dr. Peter Mbah has announced.

The governor stated this when he received the newly elected president of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye, and other leaders of the association at the Government House, Enugu, at the weekend.

He reiterated his administration’s commitment to creating a business-friendly environment and helping to de-risk investment in the state, calling on investors to key into the growing investment revolution in the state.

“We are ready for business and we are open for business. You could not make a better choice than Enugu when you are thinking about where to invest or where to grow your wealth because you are dealing with a government that is business-friendly and we do not only think about creating the environment for businesses to thrive, we are also interested in working with you collaboratively either as a Joint Venture (JV) or Private Public Sector Partnership (PPP) or even helping you to de-risk the investment flow. We are interested in listening to you, knowing what areas that would make it possible for you to invest.

“We have just signed an order with a Danish company that is coming here to manufacture their tractors. So, our target is that before the end of the year, we would have been able to assemble over 300 tractors. Our ultimate target in the medium term is to get up to 1,000 tractors before the end of next year.

“What this means is that you would not have to import the machinery and the implements you need to be able to farm in Enugu State.

“Again, we are interested in value addition and processing too. We are building a Special Processing Zone where we expect that as we plan to scale up our production in the agricultural space, we also have produce cities where those things can be processed. It is not just producing and exporting them raw. We are planning to add value, create and capture those values,” Mbah said.

He added that the government was taking measures to ensure the availability of the necessary infrastructure, ranging from urban roads to access roads to farm, power, and water, while also making huge investments in security and collaborating with security agencies to sustain and strengthen the relative security attained by the state in the last 15 months.

“In the area of roads, our target is to make sure that all our streets, all our roads in the city are paved and we are already achieving that. Just recently, we completed the 71 roads we awarded last October and we again awarded another 141 roads. We are also making sure that we also get our rural roads paved, most importantly the access road to the farmlands because we have some ambitious target in our agricultural sector where we now have over 300,000 hectares of land in our landbank,” he said.

Mbah congratulated Dr. Okoye, who is also the Managing Director of Juhel Nigeria Limited, on his emergence as NECA President, assuring of his administration’s readiness to collaborate with NECA to create more economic opportunities in the state.


Speaking earlier, the NECA leadership pledged unwavering commitment to fostering partnerships that will catalayse socio-economic development in Enugu State and the South East, having observed the governor’s vision and business-minded approach to governance.

“We have closely observed your outstanding leadership, coupled with your clear vision for the transformation of Enugu State. Your administration’s focus on economic diversification, infrastructure development, and human capital enhancement aligns perfectly with NECA’s objectives.


“We believe that through strong collaboration between the public and private sectors, we can collectively drive growth, create jobs, and improve the overall well-being of the citizens,” the NECA president stated.

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Fuel Hike: FG expands distribution of CNG conversation kits to States

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The Federal Government has expanded the distribution of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) conversion kits to various states, including Abuja, Kaduna, Lagos, and Ogun, in response to rising fuel costs.

The goal is to encourage a switch to CNG as a cleaner and more affordable alternative to petrol.

Approximately 10,000 conversion kits are being distributed, with plans to convert up to one million commercial vehicles to CNG by 2027.

The government has also approved a new price of N230 per liter for CNG and is offering a 50% discount on conversion equipment and free installation to ride-sharing drivers.

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