BOOSTING LOCAL REFINING OF PETROLEUM PRODUCTS, FG RENEWS COMMITMENT

Minister of State (Oil) Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri During his meeting a delegation from Crude Oil Refiners Asso. of Nig. CORAN

"As a government, we would continue to partner with you to find home-grown solutions to the problems. We will try whatever we can to see how we can provide a better environment for you to thrive." Lokpobiri tells CORAN delegation.

The Federal Government has renewed its commitment to boost local refining of petroleum products in the country.

This, according to a statement issued and signed by Mrs. Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa, Deputy Director (Press and Public Relations) of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, "is part of efforts aimed at addressing the lingering challenge of fuel importation and its attendant impact on the country’s foreign exchange earnings," as disclosed by the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri during a courtesy visit to him by a delegation from the Crude Oil Refineries Owners  Association of Nigeria (CORAN), led by its Chairman, Momoh Oyarekhua on Wednesday, 11th October, 2023 in Abuja.

The Minister told the delegation that the Federal  Government would continue to partner with them in finding home-grown solutions to the various problems bedeviling their operations.  

He noted that, “As a government, we would continue to partner with you to find home-grown solutions to the problems. We will try whatever we can to see how we can provide a better environment for you to thrive”.

He further promised that government will continue to engage with them as partners considering that the sector was critical to the economic survival of the country, adding that, once the sector was taken care of, the country would seem to have solved the perennial problem of importation of petroleum products, saying  that, “We will be partners in this journey, we want this sector to move forward”. 

He stated that the Ministry of Petroleum Resources would engage with other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies like the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on how to access funds.

Lokpobiri implored the association to explore and leverage on other alternative sources of funding available within the country like the Development Bank established by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Bank of Industry (BOI) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) among others.

Earlier in his remarks, the Chairman, Crude Oil Refineries Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), Mr. Momoh Oyarekhua said that the association was established to upscale local refining of crude oil in Nigeria and to place the country on the path of local production of refined products. 

He noted that if there could be self-sufficiency in oil refining in Nigeria, there might not be any reason to import refined products.

He mentioned that about 30 to 40 percent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings went into the importation of refined petroleum products.

The Chairman enumerated various challenges militating against the operations  of CORAN such as inadequate supply of feed-stock of crude from the local producers into  the refineries, multiple charges and access to funding, among others.

In finding a way out of this, he said they had in the past engaged the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on this development who had agreed on selling crude to them, noting that, the engagement has not yielded the desired results.

He added that they had also met the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) who said under the Domestic Crude Obligation which is stipulated in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) and in synergy with their own regulations, they would  interface with the crude producers in the country to know  the quantity of crude produced and seek their commitment to  the Domestic Crude Obligation to all local refineries.

On prospective modular refineries investors, Momoh told the Minister they were being confronted  by the challenge of crude guarantee as their creditors and financiers would want to know where their crude would be coming from, he appealed to  the government to support them in expanding their capacity to produce Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) locally through a refinery intervention fund.

He noted that “If we are supported, it will bring value to the country and stem the tide of importing refined products”.