Heineken Lokpobiri, the minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), has recommended that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited invest in regional refineries rather than operating government-owned ones.
Lokpobiri stated this at the inaugural meeting of the Crude Oil Refineries Owners Association of Nigeria in Lagos on Tuesday, October 8, 2024.
In his speech, the oil minister stated that the federal government intends to encourage the national oil firm to acquire shares in the planned and existing private refineries instead of operating them.
This is coming after the NNPC limited reduced its ownership of the Dangote refinery to 7.2% as opposed to the originally agreed 20%.
The Punch reported that despite spending about $4 billion, the NNPC has not restored any of the moribund government refineries.
For about seven times, the company assured Nigerians that the Port Harcourt refinery would commence production. However, the situation remains the same as of September ending.
Speaking on Tuesday, Lokpobiri said the government has asked the NNPC to run the four government refineries on a different model. He said an advertisement was recently placed by the NNPC to give out the refineries to private sectors for optimal delivery.
TimesNow.com.ng earlier reported that the NNPC reportedly ended its exclusive agreement to buy petrol from Dangote Refinery.
The decision now opens the door for independent marketers to buy directly from the Dangote refinery and negotiate their own prices.
Premium Times reports that NNPC’s limited decision aligns with the current practices for fully deregulated products, where refineries can sell directly to marketers on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.
Proofreading by James, Ojo Adakole, journalist and copy editor at TimesNow.com.ng.
Source: TimesNow.com.ng
