Twenty of the 43 licenses granted by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to set up private refineries in Nigeria have expired without going beyond the initial level of License to Establish (LTE).
Another seven of these licenses will expire between July and August, bringing the total 28, which had been idle for three years, while their validity is two years. This was contained in a report by DPR on, Licensed Refineries in Nigeria as at 31st January 2018 released recently.
However, the 5,000 barrels per day (BPD) capacity Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited, located in Ibigwe, Imo State, has gone beyond LTE to approval to construct (ATC).
Clairgold Oil and Gas Engineering Limited, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources, and Dee Jones, have also advanced to the level of construction. The report revealed that the 500,000 bpd Dangote Oil Refinery Company located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos, has been granted Detailed Engineering Design Approval by the industry regulator.
The Dangote Refinery is projected to commence operations in 2019, and is expected to help Nigeria attain self-sufficiency in petroleum refining. Similarly, the 24,000bpd Kaiji Resources Limited, Oguta, Imo States has also been granted Front End Engineering Design Approval.
Recall that the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, reassured of the determination to get the nation’s four refineries back to their optimal, nameplate capacities.
Baru said NNPC had been holding far-reaching discussions with some consortia to get the best funding options towards the refineries’ overhaul. He added that: “Since coming on board, we have made the revamp of our abandoned assets and critical downstream infrastructure a key component of our corporate vision of 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFA),” he stated.
Baru said over the last few months many crude oil, petroleum products, and natural gas pipelines were resuscitated while more than half of Nigeria’s 21 strategic depots were also upgraded.He decried acts of pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and sabotage, which he noted had resulted in huge loss of revenue, lives, and property as well as damage to the environment.
He called on the security agencies and other stakeholders nationwide to collaborate with the Corporation in its on-going campaign against the sabotage on the nation’s oil and gas facilities.
While attributing the recent fuel challenges faced in parts of the country to the nefarious acts of hoarders, diverters, profiteers, and smugglers, Baru stressed that NNPC is working with relevant stakeholders to ensure the sufficiency currently being witnessed is sustained.
