BREAKING: FG Licenses 43 Refineries, Sets To Inaugurate Refineries In N-Delta

By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos

The Federal Government of Nigeria has approved 43 refineries to refine petroleum products across the country.

According to a statement by Rabiu Suleiman, the Technical Adviser to Nigeria’s Petroleum Minister on Refineries and Downstream Infrastructure, he stated that in the next coming weeks, two of the refineries would be inaugurated in the Niger Delta region.

The minister said that there is a plan to meet local demand and export of petroleum products.

He said that even though the country is a producer of crude oil and gas, it still depends on the refined importation of petroleum products to meet local needs.

This development has caused hardship, unemployment, budget deficits, economic challenge, and poverty, as the federal government couldn’t pay 55 millionaire in petrol consumed daily.

Suleiman asserted that with the upcoming refineries and the Dangote refinery, Nigeria would soon become self-sufficient and order petroleum products.

He stated that 43 refineries have been licensed, both modular and large seized refineries.

The minister maintained that 250,000 barrels were given to Petrolex while another 100,000 licensed barrels were given to a company in Port Harcourt, in Rivers State.

Out of the 43 licensed refineries, 10 have been issued authority to start construction by being certified by the Department of Petroleum Resources ( DPR ).

Presently, according to the report, two of the refineries are almost ready for commissioning, one of which is located in Rivers State, which can produce about 10,000 barrel capacity, and the second 7,000 barrel capacity is located at Kwale in Delta State.

Others are spread throughout the country including Lagos, Imo, and Nasarawa.

He added that refineries can not be too many in a country like Nigeria.