By Lasun Alagbe
The Federal Government, on Wednesday, caused some sir when it said it had awarded a $1.5bn contract to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt Refinery.
Based on how much the ‘turn around maintenance’ of the country’s four refineries has gulped, it is the news least expected by many.
What such people want is outright sale of the facilities, while some say government should build new ones.
But the government stressed that it had got a joker in the multi-billion naira repair.
Here is how the Minister of State for Petroleum, Timpire Sylva put it:
He said: “The Ministry of Petroleum Resources presented a memo on the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery for the sum of 1.5 billion dollars, and that memo was 1.5 billion dollars and it was approved by council today.
“So, we are happy to announce that the rehabilitation of Port Harcourt refinery will commence forthwith. It is in three phases.
“The first phase is to be completed in 18 months, which will take the refinery to a production of 90 per cent of its nameplate capacity.
“The second phase is completed in 24 months and all the final stages will be completed in 44 months and consultations are approved.
“I believe that this is good news for Nigerians. The rehabilitation of refineries have commenced.”
The minister also disclosed that an Italian company would undertake the repairs and a maintenance company would also be put in place, to ensure effective maintenance culture.
“The contractor that was approved by council today is Tecnimont, SPA of Italy.”
An on;ine survey by Phenomenal.com.ng indicates that Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. is an Italian group numbering 50 operating companies in the engineering, technology and energy sectors.[5] It deals in plant engineering in oil and gas, chemicals and petrochemicals, in green chemistry and in technology supporting energy transition.]
Maire Tecnimont manages large turnkey licensing, engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects in different geographical areas. It operates in over 45 countries in four continents through a staff of around 6,300 employees.
In November 2007 it was listed on the Milan Stock Exchange in the FTSE Italia Mid Cap index.[9][10]
Fiat Engineering S.p.A. was set up in the 1930s under the name “Servizio Costruzioni e Impianti Fiat S.A. as part of the Fiat Group, for the design and construction of equipment for the manufacture of cars. Subsequently, it specialised in the production of cogeneration and combined cycle plants both in Italy and abroad, with a particular focus on the Middle East and Latin America.
In 1972, this branch of the business (“Servizio Costruzioni e Impianti Fiat S.A.”) was made into a separate company and incorporated into a new company, “Fiat Engineering S.p.A.”. It later extended its scope of operation in the transport infrastructure sector to include the design of high-speed railway lines and innovative underground railway systems.
Tecnimont S.p.A. was set up by Montedison in 1973 in order to combine the specialist skills of the Engineering and Development departments of Montecatini and Edison, two big names of Italian industry. Montecatini brought the legacy of Giulio Natta (winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1963)[14] and its specialism in the production of polyolefin plants,[15] while Edison had been active in energy production since the 19th century.
