The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has announced plans by some investors from South Korea to build four new refineries in various parts of the country.
The minister made the announcement on Tuesday, during a summit organized by the Crude Oil Refineries Owners Association of Nigeria in Lagos.
The four refineries would have 100,000-barrel capacity each and it will be located in different locations across the country.
The Minister encouraged investors to invest in Nigeria adding that the country is committed to providing an open environment for operations.
He said, “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.”
“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.
The Minister assured the investors that the FG will ensure the deregulation of the oil sector and also put in place measures that will lighten the import on Nigerians.
He revealed plans by the government to create an apprenticeship program in collaboration with existing refineries with the goal of developing expertise in local refinery operations.
His words, “We will ensure the deregulation of the downstream sector is 100 percent 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.”
“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.
