BY GODWIN OBI
The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, projects that Nigeria will become a net exporter of petroleum products by next year.
Speaking at the PENGASSAN Energy and Labour Summit 2023 in Abuja on Monday, Kyari said as a resource-dependent country, Nigeria should not be exporting 100 percent of its crude as it does at present.
“Today, we export 100 per cent of our productions, no resource-dependent country does this and that is why we must deliver on our mandate. I don’t want to speak about it; when it is done, you will see it,” Kyari said.
“So, I don’t want to tell you we are going to revamp our refineries. That is too much of PowerPoint talks. So, it will be done and you will see it. I don’t want to speak about it, we are tired of speaking about it.
“But what we must achieve is that this country must be a net exporter of petroleum products and this is within sight.”
“I strongly believe now, without giving you a date so that people don’t get angry again, but in 2024, this country will become a net exporter of petroleum products.”
According to him, this means Nigerians will have sufficient volumes in the country and those that can leave the country.
The NNPC boss however made it clear that refining crude oil in the country would not necessarily bring down the local price of petrol, which he said was controlled by the international price.
Government-owned refineries have been moribund for years but the Federal Government has assured Nigerians that some of the refineries will become functional again soon as part of efforts to end importation of petrol into the country.
During an inspection tour of the rehabilitation work progress at the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Ltd. plant, in Port Harcourt, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the Port Harcourt refinery would be back on stream by December.
Also, the Dangote Refinery is expected to start production soon which will see more crude refined in the country.
The President of Dangote Industries Limited had during the inauguration of the 650,000 bpd refinery in Lagos State in May stated that production would start between July and August this year but that has been delayed for an undisclosed date.
“Government is putting money into this and NNPC is investing with partners and we believe in 2024 the revolution will become very manifest and people will become have access to cleaner and cheaper fuel in 2024.
“It’s already happening, number of buses has converted, a number of state governments have bought buses that are running on CNG. We are carrying out significant projects that will bring CNG into the market with our partners and we believe that this will work for our country,” Kyari added.
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