BY News Agency
Ibe Kachikwu, the minister of state for petroleum resources, says the country will produce 20,000 barrels per day from modular refineries when the importation of petroleum products ends.
Kachikwu said that Nigeria’s importation of petroleum products will end in 2020 after having declined from the present 95 per cent to 60 per cent in 2018.
He stated this at the Rainoil 20th Anniversary Lecture organised by the company in Lagos on Wednesday.
The minister was represented by Henry Ikem-Obih, the group executive director/chief operating officer downstream, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
The theme of the anniversary was: “The Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry: Opportunities, Challenges and Prospects of the Downstream Sector”.
The minister of state said that with the proposed construction of modular refineries in the Niger Delta and more investments in the sector, the importation of refined products would be reduced to 60 per cent by 2018.
According to him, the country will start exporting refined products with the commencement of Dangote Refinery in 2019.
“The nation is at the turning point where the downstream industry is more critical than ever and will drive the economy.
“Currently, the NNPC imports over 95 per cent of petroleum products owing to challenges being faced by marketers in accessing Foreign Exchange.
“After 20 years in this industry, I have seen the industry go through challenges but regardless of all that, we are optimistic that there are a lot of opportunities in the sector.
“Going by our plans presently in the industry, our importation of petroleum products will be down to 60 per cent next year and 0 per cent import by 2020.
“It is achievable as Federal Government has shown a strong will to revamping the refineries coupled with the plan to bring about 20,000 barrels per day from modular refinery set to come on stream,” he said.
Kachikwu said the country’s refining capacity for the first quarter of this year presently peaked at 10 million barrels of crude oil.
This he noted was against eight million and 24 million barrels recorded for the entire years of 2015 and 2016 respectively.
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