By Yahaya Umar
Nigeria issued 47 Licenses to Establish ,LTE, and 30 Licenses to Construct ,LTC, refineries in the last year as it seeks to boost oil production in the country.
The move, according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority ,NMDPRA, marks a significant step towards enhancing Nigeria’s refining capacity and boosting petroleum products availability.
The chief executive of NMDPRA, Mr Farouk Ahmed, during the sixth Meet-the-Press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, said the 47 issued licenses have a combined refining capacity of nearly three million barrels per day.
Detailing the breakdown of the licenses, Mr Ahmed stated: “We have issued 47 LTE translating to 1.75 million barrels per day and 30 LTC translating to 1.23 million barrels per day. Currently, only four plants hold LTC with a steady output of 27,000 barrels per day”.
Giving a further breakdown, he said the LTC projects included five which were at the commissioning or construction stage, including the Dangote Petroleum Refinery with a capacity of 650,000 barrels per day while other smaller projects include; AIPCC Energy’s 30,000 barrels per day plant and Waltersmith’s second train with a capacity of 5,000 barrels per day.
Mr Ahmed also highlighted the current state of refining operations in Nigeria, saying six licensed private refineries and four public ones are producing a total of 1.12 million barrels per day.
Other private plants contribute 679,500 barrels per day, led by Dangote’s single-train plant with a refining capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.
Other modular refineries include; Aradel ,11,000 barrels per day, OPAC ,10,000 barrels per day, Waltersmith ,5,000 barrels per day, Duport Midstream Limited , 2,500 barrels per day, and Edo Refining and Petrochemicals Company Limited ,1,000 barrels per day.
He explained further that publicly owned facilities operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited add another 445,000 barrels per day from the refurbished plants in Port Harcourt ,150,000 barrels per day, Warri ,125,000 barrels per day, Kaduna ,110,000 barrels per day, and the old Port Harcourt plant ,60,000 barrels per day.
“These developments underline our commitment to reducing dependency on imported refined products”.
He added that ongoing licensing efforts aimed at expanding domestic refining capacity were ongoing to further support economic growth through job creation and energy security.
The NMDPRA’s recent licensing activities also include approvals for modular refineries in Edo, Delta, and Abia states, expected to add an additional 140,000 barrels per day upon completion.
