Ayorinde Oluokun/Abuja
Austin Avuru, CEO, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc
Nigeria’s Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), said on Wednesday that the country has the capacity to refine up to 1.2 million barrels daily by the year 2020 if the government gave necessary support to operators in the industry.
IPPG made up of 20 Nigerian operators in the oil and gas industry said this after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on in Abuja.
Austin Avuru, the Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Petroleum who led the group to the meeting told journalists that the issue of establishment of private refineries was one of the issues discussed with the President as the IPPG believed that Nigeria’s local refining capacity should be up to one million barrels per day by 2020.
“We actually put 1.2 million barrels domestic refining capacity per day and that falls on our doorstep as indigenous operators. It would be achieved. Some construction is already ongoing by indigenous companies and between some others who are coming in with smaller sized refineries and in partnership with NNPC. We are confident that by 2020 we will deliver 1.2 million domestic refining capacity,” Avuru said on how the feat can be achieved.
He added that the group, made up of indigenous companies responsible for production of over 200,000 barrels of oil and over 900 million cubic feet of gas production per day, want to become critical partner to government in the delivery of natural gas and other products into the domestic economy.
Avuru added this is because the key segments of the oil and gas sector, especially the swamp and the onshore segment is now in the hands of Nigerian independent producers who have in the past five years invested over $9billion in just acquiring these assets and have been investing over $1billion each year …Read More
Source:: PM Newspaper
