FG Acquires Shares In Four Refineries To Boost Domestic Oil Refining

The Federal Government had revealed that it has acquired shares in four refineries operating in various locations across the country.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, and the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, disclosed this in Abuja at the ministerial scorecard series of the current administration.

The Minister outlined the refineries to include the 650,000 barrels per day integrated Dangote Refinery in Lagos; 12,000bpd Azikel Modular Refinery in Bayelsa; 5,000bpd Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Imo; and 2,500bpd Duport Modular Refinery in Edo.

Providing the Federal Government’s stake in these refineries, Sylva said the government has 20 per cent equity in Dangote Refinery, 20 per cent equity in Azikel Refinery, 30 per cent in Waltersmith, and another 30 per cent in Duport Refinery.

He added that the 60,000bpd component of the Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State, would begin operations in the first quarter of this year, stressing that the facility had been completed.

Speaking on the equity of the Federal Government in Dangote Refinery, Sylva said it was 20 per cent, adding that the government had also bought shares in three other refineries.

He said, “We have 20 per cent equity in Dangote Refinery and we have also taken 20 per cent equity in Azikel Refinery. We took 30 per cent in Waltersmith, and we also have 30 per cent in Duport Refinery.

“Duport Refinery is already finished. They’ve concluded the construction. It only remains to start operations. I’m sure that within the next one month or so, Duport Refinery will also start operations.”

The minister explained that the Dangote Refinery already had an established contract with NNPC, in terms of crude oil supply, but noted that some modular refineries usually accessed crude oil from assets closer to the plants.

“So they (modular refineries) have this (crude oil supply) contract with private sector owners of these assets that are near them,” he stated.

On the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, the minister said the target date for the commencement of operations of the plant had been shifted to the first quarter of this year.

He said, “I announced last year, and from the very beginning, we have been saying the same thing, we didn’t say that we are going to complete the rehabilitation of the two refineries in Port Harcourt by May this year.

“Our promise has been that the 60,000 barrels per day refinery, within Port Harcourt refinery, will be rehabilitated by end of the fourth quarter of 2022.”

Shedding more light on how far the NNPC had gone with the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery, Kyari said, “The total rehabilitation of the refinery will take 42 months from the date of award of the contract. Typical of every refinery, we do the rehabilitation in phases.

“And our promise is to start up the fuel plant, which is 60,000 barrels per day component of this activity by the last quarter of 2022, but this is not practical. But we will start it up in the first quarter of 2023. Otherwise, every other process is going on.”