By Adaobi Rhema Oguejiofor
The owners of modular refineries under the Crude Oil Refinery-Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) have sought government intervention in order to expand their capacity to boost the supply of petrol.
The refinery owners, who met with the Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Oil, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, in Abuja on Thursday, called for the establishment of a Refinery Intervention Fund (RIF) to help local refineries expand their capacity from the current 27,000 barrels per day (bpd) to about 400,000 bpd.
The Chairman of CORAN, Momoh Jimah Oyarekhua, also asked for the minister’s intervention in order to boost crude oil supply to members of the Association and reduce fees paid to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for every litre of product they refine in-country.
He said that the modular refineries are starved of crude and when the crude is available, local producers want them to pay for it in dollars.
In his own words, “we have met with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) on the issue because the matter is captured under the domestic crude oil supply obligation, which is stipulated in the PIA.
“We have intimated them with the production capacity of local refiners and also sought their commitment on domestic crude obligation to all modular refiners. We have recently written to them again to ask for another meeting to know where they are on the issue.”
Oyarekhua further appealed to the minister to help the Association facilitate access to crude oil under the domestic crude obligation as stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to serve as feedstock for their refineries, noting that lack of crude guarantees is what has held back investors who are considering financing the operations of modular refineries.