Nigeria to Become Exporter of Refined Fuel – Dr Ibe Kachikwu

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has said that Nigeria will begin to export refined petrol and other petrochemical products within the next four years if plans to ramp up the country’s domestic refining capacity work out well.Kachikwu stated this recently in Abuja when he briefed journalists on his plans for the country’s petroleum sector.
He noted that if the plans to co-locate new refinery investments within the country’s existing refinery complexes in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt become successful, and the private refinery owned by the Dangote Group comes on stream, Nigeria will produce more petrol than she needs and then export the excess.
He explained that it would take at least three years to get the co-located refineries to begin production, adding that Dangote’s is expected to come on stream between 2019 and 2020.
“The policy on the whole is that we must target a time frame of 12 and 18 months to get out of importation.
“It is not good for the country, it is not a good image, it does not create jobs and we lose tax when it comes to the government and creates a huge amount of quite frankly, emotional backlash when people have to queue looking for fuel,” said Kachikwu.
He said that Nigeria, which imports most of her the petrol she needs for her domestic use was working feverishly to get joint venture partners who can come in and set up new refineries in the country.