South Korean investors are planning to establish four refineries in Nigeria, according to the Federal Government

A consortium of investors from South Korea has concluded plans to build four 100,000-barrel capacity refineries in various locations in Nigeria, the Federal Government announced on Tuesday.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, stated this at the maiden edition of a summit organised by the Crude Oil Refineries Owners Association of Nigeria in Lagos.

According to him, the Federal Government is encouraging investors to build refineries by providing an open environment for all.

Lokpobiri noted that approval was recently granted to invite the consortium, the name of which he did not mention.

“We encourage investors to build limited refineries by providing an open environment. A recent approval was granted to invite to Nigeria a consortium of investors from South Korea, which intends to establish four 100,000 barrels-model refineries in four different locations in Nigeria.

“We have adopted the public-private partnership model to unlock investment in the midstream and downstream segments of the oil and gas sector, which will lead to the establishment of more modular and mega refineries,” he narrated.

The oil minister said this will yield results because the Federal Government is open to equity investment in modular refineries and other upcoming refineries as a step to ensure energy security.

“The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has developed and published the domestic crude supply obligation guidelines to ensure transparency in the oil industry and ensure access to feedstock by our local refineries.

“In addition, we prioritise and work with stakeholders to ensure effective implementation of the recommendations of the Modular Refinery Committee to give special concession to local refineries’ owners, thereby guaranteeing feedstock to their refineries,” he explained.

He spoke further, “We will ensure the deregulation of the downstream sector is 100 per cent and put in place a necessary framework that will ease the impact on the poor masses.

“The ministry has facilitated easier access to existing tax and other exemptions on refinery equipment importation, which is part of our plan to make Nigeria self-sufficient for petroleum producers and become Africa’s petroleum refining hub.”

Lokpobiri said though the PIA created the petroleum ministry and National Gas Infrastructure Fund, which sources its funds from the sales of petroleum products in-country, the thought of the ministry was that a portion of the fund is used to support infrastructural development for refineries, like in the gas value chain.

“In effect, we will initiate the review of the PIA to enable this. Meanwhile, CORAN as a body should take up the campaign. Through the Petroleum Technology Development Fund and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, we are prioritising partnerships with international institutions in knowledge transfer for manpower in refinery operations, and investment in research and development, to support technological advancements and innovation in the refining sector.

“In no distant time, we intend to create the apprenticeship programme in collaboration with existing refineries to develop expertise in our refinery operations,” he disclosed.

In an effort to discourage crude oil theft and illegal refining, he said the ministry had set up an international emergency committee on home-grown solutions to in-country refining.