The Waltersmith Modular Refinery expansion is projected to be completed by Q2/2025.
This was disclosed by Abdulrazaq Isa, the Chief Executive Officer of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited.
He made this announcement on Tuesday, November 21, while addressing the press during a tour of the modular refinery.
Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited hosted Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, during a visit to the 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Ohaji-Egbema, Imo state.
Abdulrazaq Isa, the Chief Executive Officer of Waltersmith Petroman Company, which owns the modular refinery, highlighted that the refinery is efficiently managed, and its products are in demand nationwide.
However, he emphasised the necessity to expand operations to cope with the increasing demand for their products.
He said: “Some of the products are being exported by certain businesspeople, our products go as far as Sokoto state. We have customers coming from all around the country. It is very obvious to us that the capacity we have is so limited and we need to ramp up the capacity.
“That is why we are working very hard to conclude this next phase which we expect to deliver by the second quarter of 2025 (Q2/2025), by which time we also expect to have concluded the negotiations of the condensate’s feedstock.”
The Waltersmith modular refinery, established in collaboration with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), is located near the Ibigwe marginal field flow station.
During the tour to inspect the expansion of the modular refinery, the Honorable Minister expressed confidence in its management and assured the government’s full support for the company’s needs.
He emphasised his efforts in pushing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to expedite the completion of the Port Harcourt refinery, which was initially scheduled to be finished by December 2023.
Simbi Wabote, the Executive Secretary of the NCDMB, hailed the Waltersmith Modular refinery as a success story, highlighting its production of nearly 600 million litres of various petroleum products.
He also noted that approximately 20 trucks carrying petroleum products leave the refinery daily.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Industry, Olasupo Olusi, who was present during the inspection, stressed that providing additional support to the modular refinery would aid in stabilizing the oil sector, managing inflation, and handling fiscal pressures more effectively.
What you should know
On November 1, 2023, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said it would enforce crude supply obligations to local refineries.
The NUPRC said it is committed to upholding the domestic crude oil supply requirements outlined in Section 109 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) of 2021 to ensure ample crude oil provision to local/modular refineries.
That part of the PIA mandates the NUPRC to allocate domestic crude oil supply obligations based on the National Crude Oil demand requirement supply curve to respective lessees.
The NUPRC urged crude oil producers to consistently provide the NUPRC with details regarding their committed and uncommitted barrels.
