Stop boasting with Dangote refinery, fix moribund refineries, Nigerians tell FG
Series of promotional comments bordering on the advantages of emerging Dangote Refinery in Lekki, Lagos State by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has attracted the anger of Nigerians who are pained by the failure of the current administration to fix all four national refineries more than three years of takeover.
Speaking at the 18th edition of the International Biennial Health Safety and Environmental (HSE) Conference on the oil and gas industry in Nigeria organised by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Kachikwu said Nigeria’s desire to achieve fuel sufficiency in 2019 may not be realisable, but 2020 is realistic.
He said Nigeria’s refinery capacity will reach 1.1 million barrels per day in 2020, when Dangote Petrochemical refinery’s 650,000 bpd, Nigeria’s four refineries of 450,000bpd capacity and three modular refineries come on stream in two years’ time.
However, some Nigerians who barred their minds on the growing emphasis by the Minister on Dangote refinery said Kachukwu as a government official should be concerned on what is happening to national refineries and not what is happening in private refineries.
They challenged the Minister to address Nigerians on why its plan to seal a contractor-financier deal on the four refineries he has not been able to materialise in the last one year.
Business Hilights recalls that following the rejection of the National Assembly for another $1.8bn asked by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the refurbishment of the four refineries, the Corporation assured Nigerians that it is talking with a number of contractor-financiers who would revive the refineries and lift them to full capacity production.
Rather, in his submissions at the DPR summit, Kachukwu, who was economical with answers only disclosed that “We are also working hard to see the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)’s four refineries coming up with 425,000 b/d in 2020. Hopefully, we will be having board meeting next week where we will take some soft-landing decision for the commercial investment on the refineries”.
He further added that 10 out of 20 private modular refineries of about 400,000 refining capacity have shown serious committed, revealing that three of modular facilities may come on stream in 2019 while Dangote refinery is expected to come on stream in 2020.
He said “I am very excited about the development as they tend to create fuel availability as well as employment opportunities”.
