FG to Cooperate With Saudi Aramco on Refineries Development

• FG to Cooperate With Saudi Aramco on Refineries Development

Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, has said the government is looking to collaborate with Saudi Aramco on refineries development through investments.

The Minister, who was attending Riyadh Financial Sector Conference, disclosed this while speaking with Bloomberg’s Yousef Gamal El-Din on ‘Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas’ on Wednesday.

“We are looking at cooperation along very multi-levels. For example, we are asking for some investments into four of our refineries,” he said.

Nigeria’s refineries are currently producing 445,000 barrels per day, far below installed capacity despite huge amount being spent on renovation and maintenance.

The minister added, “We are looking at the potential for Liquefied Natural Gas investment. We are looking at some straight trade deals in terms of our DSDP programme, to see how they (Saudi Arabia) can participate and bring in products into the country.”

The direct sale of crude oil and the direct purchase of products started in 2017. Under the DSDP model, selected overseas refiners, trading companies and indigenous companies are allocated crude supplies in exchange for the delivery of an equal value of petrol and other refined products to the NNPC.

The Minister further said he discussed the possibility of investment options in the mid and downstream sector with the President of Saudi Aramco.

The ministry, on Twitter, said: “Kachikwu and Aramco officials including its president discussed areas of shared investment interests and existing viable investment options in the midstream and downstream sector.”

In another tweet, it said Kachikwu held talks with Saudi Arabia’s energy minister to “cement the budding interest to support Nigeria’s infrastructure development in the oil sector.”

Aramco is expanding downstream operations such as refining and petrochemicals production as part of its drive to become the world’s largest integrated energy firm.