By Henry Boyo

The release of licenses, in June this year, to 65 Nigerian companies to establish local refineries must be welcome news to everyone who is unhappy with the overwhelming Foreign Exchange bill for our fuel imports.

The licenses were granted barely two weeks after President Buhari’s inauguration, and probably provide a strong indication of PMB’s burning desire to reduce Nigeria’s huge fuel import bill and hopefully also reduce or eliminate the incidence of subsidy in fuel pricing.

Indeed, in an attempt to attract investors to this venture, the Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR) is reported to have reduced the licensing fee for new refineries from $1million to just $50,000.

It is however, not yet clear if the 18 companies which had earlier paid $1m and received licenses since 2002 to establish refineries would now be favored with a partial refund to maintain some level of equity in the application fee.

Nevertheless, Nigerians may also wonder why, till date, only one of the 18 licensed companies had actually come on stream with a modest capacity for just 1,000 bpd output of diesel.

Curiously, industry observers may similarly wonder why nothing came out of the celebrated Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Federal government with an American and Nigerian Joint Venture Group in July 2012 for the construction, within 12 months, of six modular refineries, with a combined capacity of 180,000 bpd at an estimated cost of about $4.5bn.

Incidentally, the promoters of the project had claimed that, within 30 months, “the six refineries would produce 30m litres per day of refined products, as the entire modular refinery complex, including all piping and electrical fittings would be built and test operated in the United States to ensure that each of the six plants will achieve 100% of their projected average 5m litres per day production capacity before 2015.

The firm assurance by Olusegun Aganga, the serving Minister of Trade and Investment, at that time, that his ministry would work together with the DPR and the NNPC to ensure the actualization of the project, makes the apparent failure of the venture, more disturbing. Instructively, Nigeria’s estimated daily domestic demand of about 40m litres would have been adequately covered if existing government refineries produced just 10m litres to compliment the output expected from the 2012 MOU with the American-Nigerian consortium.

Indeed, in July 2012, we had cautioned in a related article titled “6 new refineries, Hurray, but not yet Uhuru” that “in its anxiety to facilitate adequate fuel supply, the Nigerian government appeared constrained to fetch water with a porous and poorly cellotaped basket! The ultimate result can only be frustration and failure”.

The unanswered question therefore, is why companies which received licenses to establish refineries continue to dash our expectations for self sufficiency in fuel supplies. With this hindsight, what changes, we may ask, have now been made to guarantee that the 2015 batch of 65 licensees would not also disappear and frustrate our country’s hopes of ultimately becoming a net exporter of fuel.

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/09/65-more-refineries-hurray-but/

Time will tell! Its just that simple.

to me I thinl the 65 refineries should be shared among d 10 Niger delta states...
from Ondo to Edo to Delta to Anambra to Abia to Imo to Rivers to Bayelsa to Akwa ibom to Cross Rivers.

lygn19:
to me I thinl the 65 refineries should be shared among d 10 Niger delta states...
from Ondo to Edo to Delta to Anambra to Abia to Imo to Rivers to Bayelsa to Akwa ibom to Cross Rivers.

The refineries should rather be located near the Gas power plants. And no, they should spread across the length and breath of the country as needed

lygn19:
to me I think the 65 refineries should be shared among d 10 Niger delta states...
from Ondo to Edo to Delta to Anambra to Abia to Imo to Rivers to Bayelsa to Akwa ibom to Cross Rivers.

Do you really do Cos if you did you'd not think of "sharing" private companies to only sounthern states!!

Why such divisive thoughts?, so a refinery meant to serve the northeast should be in your southern village & the habit of ferrying highly volatile refined products on our roads should continue... Issokay!!!

It should have been 650.
yeye dey smell, let them even build one.

let's wait and see output.
Need anything from Jumia? Contact me now!

rottennaija:


The refineries should rather be located near the Gas power plants. And no, they should spread across the length and breath of the country as needed

my decision is based on proximity to source of raw materials.

modath:


Do you really do Cos if you did you'd not think of "sharing" private companies to only sounthern states!!

Why such divisive thoughts?, so a refinery meant to serve the northeast should be in your southern village & the habit of ferrying highly volatile refined products on our roads should continue... Issokay!!!

does the northeast have oil?
the refinery to be located at the north east where would its oil come from?
to me I think it should be refined in the niger delta then it can be transported to the north east either by underground pipelines or by road.

Cjrane2:
It should have been 650. yeye dey smell, let them even build one.

You mean 6500?

modath:


Do you really do Cos if you did you'd not think of "sharing" private companies to only sounthern states!!



no mind our pipo wen no know nope than sharing



Why such divisive thoughts?, so a refinery meant to serve the northeast should be in your southern village & the habit of ferrying highly volatile refined products on our roads should continue... Issokay!!!

what pipelines are for bruh

lygn19:

my decision is based on proximity to source of raw materials.

Actually, the raw materials are found almost everywhere in the country. Then too, the country cannot depend on the niger delta alone, especially as they like sabotaging the pipelines

rottennaija:


Actually, the raw materials are found almost everywhere in the country. Then too, the country cannot depend on the niger delta alone, especially as they like sabotaging the pipelines

there is no oil in the north, and the west only in places close to the Niger delta that there is oil.

lygn19:

does the northeast have oil?
the refinery to be located at the north east where would its oil come from?
to me I think it should be refined in the niger delta then it can be transported to the north east either by underground pipelines or by road.

mikolo80:

what pipelines are for bruh

Which of the local firms have the financial muscle to build refined products mains from scratch?

http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/what-we-do/moving-oil-and-gas.html

This should be an Action Time and not time for propaganda

Am patiently waiting for Dangote refinery. Thatz where the action is and not promises

lygn19:

there is no oil in the north, and the west only in places close to the Niger delta that there is oil.

And these places that are not as Volatile as the Niger delta are best suited for such project. Areas known for holding the country for ransom should be avoided.

That's a good development... the only sure investments in refineries now is that of dangote and oando...proud of them...an entrepreneur provide goods or services which are in high demand but not in supply...Harvey leibenstein

rottennaija:


And these places that are not as Volatile as the Niger delta are best suited for such project. Areas known for holding the country for ransom should be avoided.

so book haram is a soap opera abi?abeg refine ur groundnut oil if u don't have crude.

ahaz:
so book haram is a soap opera abi?abeg refine ur groundnut oil if u don't have crude.

Actually, I'm from Akwa Ibom and I have a better understanding of how this things work

modath:





Which of the local firms have the financial muscle to build refined products mains from scratch?

http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/about-bp/what-we-do/moving-oil-and-gas.html

they dont hv to. they rent from nnpc.also Dangote and adenuga could build it if they are needed to.its trailer bigness that m sales ppl forget that we he pipelines