Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, is trying to cut its dependence on imported fuel. The country sells its crude to imports 90% of products like gasoline and diesel. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) operates four refineries, but they have not been adequately maintained for years.
The newest refinery was more than 40-year old, and all of them have been running well below their full capacity. Mele Kyari, NNPC’s newly appointed group managing director, said it would fix the plant and end the nation’s reliance on fuel imports.
However, skepticism emerges as NNPC’s track record showed it has tried and failed to revamp its aging and unprofitable crude-processing plants. Kyari insisted that this time, it would be different. The first repair is scheduled to start in January on the Port Harcourt complex. The complex houses two refinery with a crude processing capacity of 210,000 bpd.
Meanwhile, a new private refinery with a capacity of 650,000 bpd is due to come online in the next several years. It belongs to Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote. However, the Nigerian state does not own the refinery, meaning it will have to pay for fuels the refinery produces at similar fees charged by import fuel traders.
