Tinubu vows to rehabilitate Nigeria’s dormant refineries
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Punch
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu says the state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna will be rehabilitated to prevent them from becoming stranded investments. In Lagos, he outlined an approach based on technical assessments, stronger partnerships and stricter management, according to Punch.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu reaffirmed on Monday 26 October his government’s intention to rehabilitate the state-owned refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, which have remained inactive despite billions of naira being spent on their maintenance. Tinubu, represented by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Patience Oyekunle, was speaking in Lagos at the 20th edition of OTL Africa Downstream Energy Week, according to Punch.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which operates the three sites, has signed a memorandum of understanding with two Chinese companies for their renovation. The government now wants to rely on technical assessments, stronger partnerships and greater operational discipline to make the project commercially viable, Tinubu said, according to Punch.
The president wants Nigeria to process more crude oil domestically, increase the value created locally and become an energy supplier to other African countries. According to Punch, this approach is intended to reduce the country’s historic dependence on imports of petroleum products, as part of the reforms introduced by the Petroleum Industry Act.
