AIPCC Energy Limited, which operates the Edo Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited (ERPCL), is expressing frustration over their inability to source crude oil from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
ERPCL is a fully operating 1,000 barrels per day stream crude oil refinery but has experienced quarrels with bureaucratic structures in its quest for crude oil. The company signed agreements with Seplat and ND Western in 2022, but NNPCL’s unavailability of crude oil has made it impossible to pump.
Segun Okeni, an ERPCL deputy on his story said that although the refinery needs 1,000 barrels per day steam crude it only produces less than that due to unavailability thereof. “The inaction of NNPCL has created then serious challenges despite holding several meetings and sending messages since year 2021,” he stated.
Okeni pointed out the following key issues:
- – NNPCL’s failure to allocate preferred fields for crude oil
- – Inability to access crude from ND Western, First Hydrocarbon, and Seplat
- – No progress in modifying infrastructure for truck loading
ERPCL is calling on NNPCL to intervene so they can begin lifting crude oil from an OML. As Okeni put it, “If our local investors cannot access crude, how would you encourage foreign ones?”
