Two refineries may come on stream before December ends, Says Kachikwu

The minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. IbeKachikwu has said that two of the country’s four refineries may commence operation before the end of December, 2015.

Kachikwu, who also doubles as the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, gave this assurance in a statement released by the Group’s General Manager for Public Affairs, OhiAlegbe.

According to the statement, the minister explained in a presentation he made to legislators that the average national crude oil production as at July 2015 stood at 2.1 million barrels per day (mbpd) with the equity production of the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) at 99,000 barrels per day (bpd).

On the state of the refineries and refining operations in Nigeria, Kachikwu stated that efforts are on to engage private investors to build new refineries within the old ones to enable the refineries share power, pipelines and other resources.

Kachikwu assured Nigerians that the sector under his watch would ensure that the Nigeria Content policy would transform the industry into the economic engine for job creation and national growth, adding that the introduction of a private sector model that would reinvigorate efficient supply and distribution of petroleum products especially in the area of pipeline assets would be good for the country’s downstream petroleum sector.

Kachikwuexplained that the ongoing reforms which the government is undertaking in the country’s oil industry are aimed at, “having the right people, doing the right things, at the right time, for the right purpose to yield the right results.”

He noted that the declining Joint Venture reserves were due to inadequate and low investment in the oil assets, stressing that the issue of funding constraints must be addressed going forward with the collaboration of private and international investors.