The Federal Government has selected two out of the ten investors who showed interest and competence to build 217,000 barrels per day refineries near the existing ones in Port Harcourt and Warri under the co-location concept.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Recources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu had initiated the concept of co-location of refineries to ensure that new refineries are set up to share infrastructure with Nigeria’s existing refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri, to boost domestic petroleum products refining capacity.
Also, modalities are being worked out by the Federal Government to offer financial support to operator who were licenced to build modular refineries in the country.
Speaking at the conference of the Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria on Thursday, the Chief Operating Officer in charge of Refining and Petrochemical at the National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Anibor Kragha, stated that the NNPC had actually identified two private companies that will build two refineries under the co-location arrangement.
Kragha said LRR Group was selected to build a 117,000 bpd refinery near the existing Warri refinery, while a different company identified as JALEMBA will build a 100,000 bpd refinery near the present Port Harcourt refinery.
He added that progress is being made towards meeting the estimated 41 million litres per day project petrol consumption in Nigeria by 2025, noting that three refineries at full capacity will deliver that.
“Now the three refineries at full capacity will deliver about 50 per cent of that. Dangote Refinery, I understand, will deliver about 95 per cent of that when it comes on stream,” Kragha said.
According to him, if the three refineries operate at full capacity and Dangote Refinery also comes on stream, the idea of becoming a net exporter of petrol is feasible.
Also, speaking, Kachikwu, represented by a Deputy Director in Charge of Engineering Standard at the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mr. Olumide Adeleke, said the overall concept of co-location of refineries remains the same, stressing that pipelines, jetties and where possible, storage tanks would be jointly invested in and shared.
He added that to promote local content, Nigerian companies must be involved in the process and the host communities has to be taken into cognisance as they have a role to play in achieving the set goal.
