BREAKING; Foreign Consortium to build four Refineries in Nigeria – Fed Govt
A consortium of South Korean investors has finalised plans to construct four refineries in Nigeria, each with a capacity of 100,000 barrels per day.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, revealed this during the inaugural summit of the Crude Oil Refineries Owners Association of Nigeria in Lagos.
Lokpobiri explained that the government is actively fostering a favorable environment for investors to build refineries in the country. He also mentioned that approval had recently been granted to invite the consortium, though he did not disclose the group’s name.
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 oil minister stated that this approach will be effective, as the Federal Government is open to equity investments in modular and upcoming refineries, aiming to strengthen 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.
“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 explained that while the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) established the Ministry of Petroleum and the National Gas Infrastructure Fund—financed by domestic petroleum product sales—the ministry envisions allocating a portion of this fund to support infrastructure development for refineries, similar to its role in the gas value chain.
He disclosed that: “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.”
To combat crude oil theft and illegal refining, the minister announced the establishment of an international emergency committee focused on developing home-grown solutions for domestic refining.
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