Seplat Petroleum, Waltersmith Refinery sign crude purchase agreement

Seplat Petroleum, Waltersmith Refinery sign crude purchase agreement

Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, has signed a Crude Purchase Agreement (CPA) with Waltersmith Petroman Oil Limited.

According to a statement available to Business Metrics through the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Seplat stated: “The CPA is for the supply of between 2,000 and 4,000 bopd from existing working-interest production from the Ohaji South Field within OML53, for Waltersmith’s new 5,000 bopd modular refinery at Ibigwe Field, in Imo State.”

Previously, Seplat’s share of Ohaji South crude was primarily evacuated to the export Terminal via a third-party Crude Handling Agreement with Waltersmith.

The statement says this new agreement benefits Seplat by selling its crude oil directly to Waltersmith for refining, thereby eliminating crude losses and downtime experienced along the evacuation and export route.

It further says, “The transaction would also boost the capacity of Waltersmith in providing its products particularly to the immediate region of our operations thereby supporting Seplat’s commitment to national energy security.

“Seplat maintains its guidance of 48,000 – 52,000 boepd for the 2020 financial year.”

Commenting on the development, Roger Brown, chief executive of Seplat, said: “We are delighted to sign this Crude Purchase Agreement with Waltersmith as it ensures that Nigerian crude will be refined locally by a Nigerian refiner.

“The agreement will eliminate losses we previously experienced on the export pipeline, meaning more revenue will be booked by Seplat for the same amount of oil produced from the field. Waltersmith’s refinery will also benefit the Nigerian economy by creating local jobs to refine our oil.”