The Minister of state for petroleum and Group Managing Director (GMD) of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ibe Kachikwu has revealed that the Federal Government will privatise the nation’s refineries within 12 months. He said the government is working with major oil companies to ensure that the refineries are working at full capacity.
The NNPC GMD also said some multinational companies have signified their interest to purchase of the refineries. He also said the refineries will not meet local demand, even if they are overhauled, adding that the nation will also depend on output from other privately owned refineries. Kachikwu said:
“We have gotten commitments from some of the majors. Agip has indicated interest to work with us on Port Harcourt, Chevron on Warri. We are talking to Total on Kaduna. The refineries would not be sold but joint venture partners with established track records of success in refining would be invited to support the running of the refineries in order to ensure efficiency.”
The minister previously told newsmen on Saturday, April 23, 2016, that the Federal Government needed $700m to upgrade its refineries to produce at maximum capacities.