No fewer than 26 firms have indicated interest in the planned overhauling of the nation’s refineries, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, has said.
Kachikwu, who stated this Tuesday at the oil conference in Cape Town, South Africa, said the 26 firms had indicated their interest in the project that would require investment of $2 billion.
He said Nigeria was close to finalising the process for the overhaul of the three existing refineries, as part of efforts to reduce the country’s reliance on imports.
“We are almost at a threshold of finalising the process of selection,” he said, adding that it could announce its selection by January or February,” he said.
The minister said Dangote Refinery being built in Nigeria with a capacity to process 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil was due to come on stream by the end of 2019.
“That should be enough to meet local needs,” Mr. Kachikwu said, according to Reuters.
In 2016, NNPC launched bidding to find partners to overhaul its ailing refineries, which hardly produce any petrol due to decades of mismanagement, a development that forced the nation to rely on imported oil products.
The government had previously said it was in talks with Chevron, Total and ENI.
Kachikwu said Nigeria aimed to lift oil output in January 2018 to 1.8 million bpd from about 1.6 million to 1.7 million bpd.
He, however, noted that the nation would not breach a ceiling agreed with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.
OPEC, Russia and other producers cut oil output by about 1.8 million bpd since January, with Nigeria and two other oil producers granted exemption.
“If we get to 1.8 (million), then we need to say ‘hey, close off the taps, because we need to comply,” Kachikwu said.
He said oil prices were now encouraging but noted that OPEC had not ruled out further cuts to shore up the market.
