NNPCL Vows to End Fuel Importation by 2024, Says Refineries Will Be Ready Soon
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), the state-owned oil company, has announced that it will stop importing refined petroleum products into the country by December 2024.
The NNPCL said that it will achieve this by completing the rehabilitation of its four refineries and leveraging the contributions of small-scale refineries and the upcoming Dangote refinery.
The Chief Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, made this declaration on Thursday when he led a delegation of the company to a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas. Kyari said that the NNPCL has projected to grow its revenue to N4.5tn by the end of 2023, adding that the Port Harcourt Refining Company, which is under the management of the NNPCL, will be ready by December this year.
He said, “I can confirm to you that by the end of December this year, we will start the Port Harcourt refinery; early in the first quarter of 2024, we will start the Warri refinery and by the end of 2024, Kaduna refinery will come into operation.
“This is the commitment we are giving today and you can hold us accountable for this. In 2024, many of the initiatives, including the rehabilitation of our refineries and also the efforts of small-scale refineries, and the upcoming Dangote refinery, will make Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products in 2024. We will no longer be talking about fuel importation by the end of 2024. I am very optimistic that this will crystallise,” he said.
The NNPCL’s statement was corroborated by oil marketers, who confirmed the readiness of the Port Harcourt refinery, as they stated that its operations, which could begin in January 2024, would lead to a significant reduction in the prices of refined petroleum products.
The oil marketers said that they were impressed by the progress made by the NNPCL in rehabilitating the refineries and expressed their support for the company’s vision.
The NNPCL has been facing challenges in meeting the domestic demand for refined petroleum products, which has forced the country to rely heavily on imports. The NNPCL has also been accused of mismanaging the refineries and inflating the cost of their rehabilitation.
However, the NNPCL has defended its actions and said that it is working in the best interest of the country and the economy. The NNPCL has also introduced reforms in the oil and gas sector, such as the Petroleum Industry Act, which aims to improve transparency and accountability in the industry
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