Wednesday, October 09, 2024 - A consortium of investors from South Korea has concluded plans to build four 100,000-barrel capacity refineries in various locations in Nigeria, the Federal Government announced on Tuesday.
The Minister of State for Petroleum
Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, stated this at the maiden edition of a
summit organised by the Crude Oil Refineries Owners Association of Nigeria in
Lagos.
According to him, the Federal Government is
encouraging investors to build refineries by providing an open environment for
all.
Lokpobiri noted that approval was recently
granted to invite the consortium, the name of which he did not mention.
“We encourage investors to build limited
refineries by providing an open environment. A recent approval was
granted to invite to Nigeria a consortium of investors from South Korea, which
intends to establish four 100,000 barrels-model refineries in four different
locations in Nigeria.
“We have adopted the public-private
partnership model to unlock investment in the midstream and downstream segments
of the oil and gas sector, which will lead to the establishment of more modular
and mega refineries,” he narrated.
The oil minister said this will yield
results because the Federal Government is open to equity investment in modular
refineries and other upcoming refineries as a step to ensure energy security.
“The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has
developed and published the domestic crude supply obligation guidelines to
ensure transparency in the oil industry and ensure access to feedstock by our
local refineries.
“In addition, we prioritise and work with
stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of the recommendations of the
Modular Refinery Committee to give special concession to local refineries’
owners, thereby guaranteeing feedstock to their refineries,” he explained.
He spoke further, “We will ensure the
deregulation of the downstream sector is 100 per cent and put in place a
necessary framework that will ease the impact on the poor masses.
“The ministry has facilitated easier access
to existing tax and other exemptions on refinery equipment importation, which
is part of our plan to make Nigeria self-sufficient for petroleum producers and
become Africa’s petroleum refining hub.”
Lokpobiri said though the PIA created the
petroleum ministry and National Gas Infrastructure Fund, which sources its
funds from the sales of petroleum products in-country, the thought of the
ministry was that a portion of the fund is used to support infrastructural
development for refineries, like in the gas value chain.
“In effect, we will initiate the review of
the PIA to enable this. Meanwhile, CORAN as a body should take up the campaign.
Through the Petroleum Technology Development Fund and the Nigerian Content
Development and Monitoring Board, we are prioritising partnerships with
international institutions in knowledge transfer for manpower in refinery
operations, and investment in research and development, to support
technological advancements and innovation in the refining sector.
“In no distant time, we intend to create the
apprenticeship programme in collaboration with existing refineries to develop
expertise in our refinery operations,” he disclosed.
In an effort to discourage crude oil theft and illegal
refining, he said the ministry had set up an international emergency committee
on home-grown solutions to in-country refining.
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