As part of its intentions to guarantee Nigeria’s energy security, the Federal Government has disclosed that it has purchased stakes in 4 private refineries operating in various regions of the nation.
Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, announced this on Monday in Abuja at the start of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture-led President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s ministerial scorecard series (2015–2023).
Sylva listed the refineries, which included the 2,500 barrels per day Duport Modular Refinery in Edo, the 5,000 barrels per day Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Imo, the 12,000 barrels per day Azikel Modular Refinery in Bayelsa, and the 650,000 barrels per day integrated Dangote Refinery in Lagos. FG’s equity in the 4 refineries.
In response to a question on the Federal Government’s ownership stake in these refineries, Sylva stated that the government owns a 20% stake in the Dangote refinery and that it has also purchased shares in 3 other refineries.
The minister declared, “We have 20 percent ownership in the Dangote Refinery and 20 percent ownership in the Azikel Refinery.
We invested 30% in Waltersmith, and we have another 30% in Duport Refinery.
The Duport Refinery has been completed.
The building process is over.
All that is left to do is get things going.
I’m certain Duport Refinery will begin operations in the upcoming month or so.
The minister stated that certain modular refineries typically accessed crude oil from assets closer to the plants, despite the fact that the Dangote Refinery already had a formal contract in place with NNPC for the delivery of crude oil.
He said, “So they (modular refineries) have this arrangement (for the delivery of crude oil) with private sector owners of these assets that are close to them.”
Beginning operations in the first quarter of 2023 is the Port Harcourt Refinery
In addition, Sylva stressed that the facility had been finished and that the start of operations at the 60,000 barrels per day Port Harcourt refinery had been moved from December 2022 to the first quarter of this year.
“I announced last year, and from the very beginning, we have been repeating the same thing, we didn’t claim that we are going to finish the rehabilitation of the two refineries in Port Harcourt by May this year,” the speaker stated.
We have committed to completing the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery’s 60,000 barrels per day refinery by the end of the fourth quarter of 2022.
Speaking about the Port Harcourt Refinery and the extent of the NNPC’s renovation, Kyari stated, “The refinery’s complete rehabilitation will take 42 months from the date of the contract’s award.
We carry out the restoration in stages, as is customary for every refinery.
Additionally, we commit to opening the fuel plant, which will contribute 60,000 barrels per day to this activity, by the fourth quarter of 2022, but this is not realistic.
Nevertheless, we’ll begin it in the first quarter of 2023.
Otherwise, all other processes are in motion.
Sylva responded to the NNPC chief’s comments by saying, “In other words, what he is saying is that the rehabilitation of the 60,000 barrels per day refinery has been completed and would be launched in the first quarter of 2023 as promised.”
