Full utilization of local refineries ‘ll stop perennial fuel scarcity – Kachickwu 

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has identified the full utilisation of the local refineries as the panacea to the problem of shortages associated with foreign exchange and fuel supply.

Kachikwu, who appeared before the Nnanna Igbokwe-led House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Reduction of Petrol Prices at the weekend assured Nigerians that by 2019, the nation’s comatose refineries would be able to contribute about eight million out of over 20 million litres of petrol consumed in the country daily.

Kachikwu stated the Federal Government had perfected a strategy to attract foreign investors to partner the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) by initiating a model to repair the country’s refineries within two years.

On why International Oil Companies (IOCs) are selling foreign exchange to marketers directly, he explained that the arrangement was made to ease the forex scarcity being experienced by importers who collect between 35 and 40 per cent of the foreign exchange in the CBN.

Meanwhile, National Daily has gathered that there are plans by the CBN to raise $50billion or about N15trillion for the development of biofuel initiatives.

At the sensitisation workshop on biofuel development in Abuja, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele said the fund would be sourced from parastatals and development banks, including the Bank of Industry, Bank of Agriculture and the proposed Development Bank of Nigeria.

Represented by Lawrence Ode of the Research Department of the CBN, Emefiele said the government envisaged equity funding arrangements to be known as biofuel industry equity fund of $50 billion.

He hinted that when established, the fund is expected to provide credit on favourable terms to meet the peculiarities of the industry and the country.

The CBN chief submitted that the Nigerian Biofuel Policy and Incentives Draft document has outlined funding as well as incentives arrangements for firms involved in biofuel production.

The Executive Secretary of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), Victor Shidok, said the agency would continue to have an interface with relevant stakeholders in order to come up with a clear strategy on how biofuel industry can be developed for the benefit of the economy.

Shidok disclosed that there is still no timeline for the takeoff of the policy. “We are wary of the challenges that would prop up on the way during the implementation process. We hope that in the next two years, if this policy is gazetted and get the ratification of the necessary authorities, we should be able to see feasible signs of the production of ethanol and biofuel materials.”