October 09, 2024
By Samuel Ogunsona
Nigeria is set to receive a major boost in its refining capacity as a consortium of South Korean investors plans to build four new refineries across the country.
Each refinery will have a daily capacity of 100,000 barrels, significantly enhancing Nigeria’s ability to refine its own oil.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, made this announcement at the first summit organized by the Crude Oil Refineries Owners Association of Nigeria in Lagos. Lokpobiri emphasized the Federal Government’s commitment to creating an open and conducive environment to attract refinery investments, highlighting the importance of public-private partnerships in driving development in the midstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry.
To support local refineries, the Government plans to implement recommendations from the Modular Refinery Committee, providing special concessions to local refinery owners and guaranteeing feedstock to their refineries.
The government also aims to deregulate the downstream sector fully and establish a framework to ease the impact on low-income households.
Additionally, the ministry is working to simplify tax exemptions for importing refinery equipment, making Nigeria self-sufficient in petroleum refining. Lokpobiri suggested amending the Petroleum Industry Act to allocate a portion of the National Gas Infrastructure Fund to support refinery-related infrastructure.
The ministry also intends to foster partnerships for knowledge transfer and workforce development in refinery operations, including creating an apprenticeship program with existing refineries.
To combat crude oil theft and illegal refining, an international emergency committee has been established to find home-grown solutions.
This development is part of Nigeria’s broader strategy to pivot its energy sector towards refining and natural gas.
With Nigeria being the second-largest oil producer in Africa, these new refineries will significantly enhance the country’s refining capacity.
