…Applauds NCDMB, Waltersmith for the 30,000 bpd modular refinery
-By Benjamin Ike
The Federal government has pledged its commitment to support indigenous petroleum production and refining in order to boost local refining capacity for self-sufficiency.
The Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva said this recently when he paid a working visit to Waltersmith Modular Refinery located at Ohaji/Egbema LGA of Imo State, to inspect the ongoing works at the refinery construction which has reached an advanced completion status of over 90 per cent.
Chief Sylva who was accompanied by the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) Engr. Simbi K. Wabote, expressed excitement at the pace of the project while noting that “the incorporation of the Modular Refinery component in the existing business concerns of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, is exactly what was envisaged by the Federal Government with marginal fields allocation”.
He stated further that the overall expectation was to see indigenous Nigerian companies do well, “and the Waltersmith Modular Refinery is a major bright spot which has recently been incorporated into the nation’s projection for petroleum product sufficiency and availability”.
The Minister also applauded the Board and Management of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited while imploring that a huge focus should be placed on Corporate Social Responsibility to ensure a sustained and successful relationship with the host community.
He specifically applauded Engr. Wabote for executing the project partnership for the 30,000 barrels per day modular refinery which is wholly owned by Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited with a key equity investment from the NCDMB.
Chief Sylva pledged Federal Government commitment in ensuring that the expected completion date and refinery operations commencement date of May 2020, are achieved.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary NCDMB Engr. Wabote described the project as investment channeled in the right direction. He hailed the contractors – Lambert Electromac and Zerock for their remarkable pace of execution, dedication and expertise, noting that they continued with the project despite the onset of the rainy season.

The Executive Secretary expressed delight with the high number of Nigerians working on various aspects of the project, stating that it underscores President Mohammed Buhari’s commitment to creating employment for young Nigerians from the activities of the oil and gas industry. Wabote stated thus, “I hope similar projects will come on stream pretty soon to generate employment for Nigerians.”
In line with the requirements of the succession plan of the Nigerian Content Act, Wabote charged the contractors to train and absorb more Nigerians in senior management positions and make them permanent members of their companies, even after the project phase.
He noted that the Ibigwe modular refinery was the first of such projects to be undertaken by the NCDMB and Watersmith and hinted that the Board had sanctioned another modular refinery project to be developed at Calabar, Cross River State.
The refinery was conceptualized in 2011 with the intent to mitigate the frequent outage of the third-party export Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) and to optimise the full value of the nation’s crude oil production through in-country refining and providing petroleum products for the domestic market.
Waltersmith Modular Refinery is funded through a shareholders agreement (SHA) executed with the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), in June 2018, which gives the board 30 per cent equity investment, as well as debt facility agreement obtained from Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) in July 2018.
Egnr. Wabote expressed optimism that the May 2020 completion date of phase one (5,000 barrels per day) will coincide with the groundbreaking for phase two of the project, targeted at delivering 25,000 barrels per day crude and condensate refinery – designed to produce gasoline, diesel, LPG, kerosene and aviation fuel.
The Chairman of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, Mr. AbdulRazaq Isa in his comment, noted that the fundamental reasons for embarking on the Modular Refinery include, but not limited to crude loss resulting from crude handling and the cost of crude transportation from the marginal fields owned by Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited.
Mr. Isa noted that the project owners, Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited (70 per cent) and NCDMB (30 per cent) have worked assiduously to ensure the phase one delivery timeline which has been pegged at 18 months.
According to him, the phase one is expected to contribute about 271 million litres of refined products including diesel, naphtha, HFO and kerosene, annually to the domestic market with a view to creating both direct and indirect jobs particularly within the host communities.
In a technical presentation, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited, Mr. Chikezie Nwosu explored the current status of the Modular Refinery project while noting that the 30,000+ barrels per day is a partnership between Waltersmith (70%) and NCDMB (30%) with NCDMB providing major guidance and contributions on Nigerian Content, Technical and Commercial issues including Corporate Governance.
Mr. Nwosu recalled that the FID for the refinery project was taken in September 2018 with an 18-month delivery time frame from November 2018 to May 2020, for phase one.
The Managing Director informed the minister that Waltersmith Ibigwe hub growth focus is to further develop Ibigwe field target assets within 30km radius of the area for farm-in, IOC interest acquisition and marginal field acquisition.
He said FID for Phase one 5000 bpd Refinery Project taken in September 2018 with an 18 month delivery timeline from November 2018 to May 2020 is 90 per cent completed.
Mr. Nwosu added that already Front End Engineering Design (FEED) for the Phase 2 project, which is the construction of 25,000 bpd refinery, is ongoing, and it will be delivered by February 2020, and the ground breaking is billed for May 2020.
According to the Managing Director, Waltersmith is also developing a 30 megawatt gas-fired power plant for which the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has granted a power generation licence in 2017. The plant will be situated in the same energy industrial estate complex as the refinery and the flow station in the Ibegwe marginal field. It is expected that the power plant will utilize processed gas from Waltersmith’s Ibigwe marginal field and from third parties operating gas fields that are within proximity to the Ibigwe field. The power generated will be supplied to the national grid and is expected to contribute towards bridging the power supply gap in the country and create both direct and indirect jobs during the construction and operational phases. According to him about 118,000 households and 27,000 commercial/industrial users are expected to be powered through the project.
The company urges the Federal Government to support its ongoing commercial Farm-in discussions with the SPDC JV and NNPC, for security of production and refinery feedstock. It also issued a formal invitation to the Minister to graciously attend both the commissioning of Waltersmith’s new Corporate Head Office located in Lagos coming up in January 2020, and the commissioning of the Phase 1 project of the modular refinery which will be performed along with the ground breaking ceremony of the Phase 2 project in May 2020.