Nigeria and other African countries who are dependent on importation of petroleum products will continue to do so for the next 20 years despite the availability of functional and semi-functional refineries on the continent. And the plans to build more refineries in Angola, Uganda, Mozambique and Nigeria Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke has said.
Alison-Madueke, who was an invited guest speaker but was represented by Mr. Oliver Okparaojiakor at the eight edition of the Oil, Trading and Logistics Expo held in Lagos yesterday said Africa will continue to be a net importer of petroleum products for at least the next 20 years to come. This according to her is as a result of increased population growth, difficulties in funding etc.
She has this to say, “In fact, there are only 24 fuel refineries within the region, with a total refining capacity of 1.6 million barrels per day for a population that is close to a billion. Population growth means more energy consumption.
“However, the uncompetitive and inefficient nature of many of these refineries, combined with the difficulty in funding major upgrades, or new capacity, seem likely to keep the average utilisation at a low level in the short term. “The implication of population growth for Africa is that demand for petroleum products will continue to be on the rise without commensurate refining capacity addition. There is an urgent need to encourage investors to partner with national oil companies or privately to build more refineries, and for us to be less dependent on imports.”
The minister, however, pointed out that Nigeria was already on the path to adding more capacity by 2020 through the proposed private refineries by the Dangote Group, Orient, Bayelsa, Kogi, and Lagos states, among others.
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