Nigerian Government said it had acquired shares in four private refineries operating in different parts of the country.
According to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, at the resumption of the ministerial scorecard series (2015-2023) of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, anchored by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture in Abuja on Monday, the acquisition is to ensure energy security in the country.
Sylva, in the company of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, listed the refineries to include the 650,000 barrels per day integrated Dangote Refinery in Lagos; 12,000bpd Azikel Modular Refinery in Bayelsa; 5,000bpd Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Imo; and 2,500bpd Duport Modular Refinery in Edo.
Sylva said that the government has a 20% stake in the Dangote refinery, adding that the government had also bought shares in 3 other refineries.
The minister said, “We have 20 percent equity in Dangote Refinery and we have also taken 20 percent equity in Azikel Refinery. We took 30 percent in Waltersmith, and we also have 30 percent in Duport Refinery.
“Duport Refinery is already finished. They’ve concluded the construction. It only remains to start operations. I’m sure that within the next month or so, Duport Refinery will also start operations.”
The minister explained that the Dangote Refinery already had an established contract with NNPC, in terms of crude oil supply, but noted that some modular refineries usually accessed crude oil from assets closer to the plants.
He stated, “So they (modular refineries) have this (crude oil supply) contract with private sector owners of these assets that are near them,” he stated.
