The Federal Government has pledged its support to the 650,000 barrels per day capacity Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Plant with crude oil feed stock and other necessary inputs to ensure the success of the project.
The pledge was made by the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in a statement issued by Mr Samson Makoji, the Acting Spokesman for the Nigerian National Corporation (NNPC) in Abuja on Monday.
Accompanied by Group Managing Director of NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, the minister and other members of the corporation’s top management, spoke during a tour of the Dangote Refinery, being constructed by the Dangote Group in Lagos.
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He said that the refinery would attract more Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into Nigeria upon completion, adding that the plant would be a symbol of the Nigerian success story.
Sylva said it was necessary to support the Dangote Refinery project to ensure its successful completion to realise the Federal Government’s aspiration of reversing the ugly trend of fuel importation.
“The Dangote Refinery is a very impressive project done by a Nigerian for Nigeria,” the minister said.
Kyari, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, said the corporation was in the process of establishing two new 200,000bpd condensate refineries to boost the country’s refining capacity.
He said that upon completion, the condensate refineries, coupled with the 445,000bpd capacity of the existing refineries under refurbishment, and the 650,000bpd Dangote Refinery, would transform Nigeria into a net exporter of petroleum products.
He added that those complementary efforts by the NNPC and the Dangote Group would guarantee energy security for Nigeria.
Kyari reiterated that the national oil company was not in contest for market share with the Dangote Refinery, but rather would provide support to the project to boost in-country refining capacity.
“Our objective is to make Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products and you can only achieve that by complementing each other, both the public and the private sector.
“ We are going to do more and we actually need more of these private sector refineries for Nigeria to become a net exporter of gasoline and other associated products,” Kyari said.
Responding, the President of the Dangote Group, Mr Aliko Dangote, who was on ground to receive the Federal Government team, said his group opted for the biggest refinery in the world because of his firm believe in the Nigeria project.
Juliet Ekwebelam
