Nigeria’s state-owned energy company said it’s considering purchasing shares in at least six privately controlled refineries in the West African nation to conform to a government directive.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. is seeking an equity stake in the 650,000 barrels-per-day facility that Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person, is building outside Lagos, as well as in five other refineries that are in the development phase, to promote “national energy security,” the company said in a statement Monday.
A government policy “stipulates the mandatory participation of the Corporation in any privately-owned refinery that exceeds 50,000 barrels per day capacity,” the NNPC said.
The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is relying on the Dangote Group’s facility, which is expected to be completed this year, to significantly reduce the country’s dependence on imported fuel products. The refinery is part of a $15 billion petrochemical complex that will also house a gas processor and the world’s largest ammonia plant.
The firm didn’t offer any information about how it plans to structure the deals or pay for the stakes. The acquisitions will not undercut the NNPC’s commitment to rehabilitate its own four refineries that are currently shut down and in need of repairs, it said.
In March, Nigeria’s government approved a $1.5 billion revamp of two NNPC-owned facilities in Port Harcourt that have the capacity to refine 210,000 barrels of crude per day, while the privately held BUA Group recently announced plans to build a 200,000 barrels-per-day plant.
“The new vision is to grow domestic refining capacity, improve petroleum products supply from our local refineries and become a net exporter of petroleum products,” the NNPC’s statement said.
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