The Federal Government has awarded a $52 million (N6.5 billion) contract for the repair of the Chanomic Creek channel crude oil pipeline as part of efforts to bring Kaduna and Warri refineries back on stream. The pipeline supplies crude oil from the Niger Delta to the Warri and Kaduna refineries.

The contract, according to the acting Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Abubakar Lawal Yar'Adua, was awarded to an indigenous oil service firm domiciled in the Niger Delta region. “The community people have assured us of access to the place, we have evaluated the contract, we have signed agreement with the community and we expect to finish this in four months. But I am putting pressure to see if we can reduce this to three months. We are looking at the possibility of bringing the refineries back on stream maybe before the end of December to see if we can give Nigerians a Christmas present," he said.

Yar' Adua continued: "It was over $100 million (N12.6 billion) but I have successfully negotiated it down, with the use of the indigenes to around $52 million (N6.5 billion)." Speaking on Monday in Vienna, Austria, while fielding question from journalists, the NNPC helmsman said the local contractors, who he explained have links with one of the multi-national oil firms in the Delta, are technically capable to handle the job.