• Dangote, PH, Warri refineries may face operational challenges
• Nigeria world lowest in investment- to- reserves ratio.
BY SAM OTUONYE
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, has revealed that there is a potential crude oil shortage which will affect the operational capacity of the newly inaugurated Dangote Petrochemical Refinery, Port Harcourt Refinery, Warri Refinery, and modular refineries in Nigeria.
The Minister emphasized that without a deliberate increase in investments and crude production, these refineries might not have enough feedstock to produce enough oil for even local consumption.
The Dangote refinery, a 650,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery, began production of both diesel and aviation fuel on January 12.
However, it is reported that the facility has only received six shipments of one million barrels each of crude oil from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
Shell Nigeria Plc announced that it had completed the supply of 450,000 barrels of crude oil to the recently rehabilitated Port Harcourt refinery.
However, major and independent marketers have yet to receive refined products from any of the refineries as the NNPC Ltd continues to import fuel with scarce foreign exchange.
According to the Minister, Nigeria has slowed down investments in the past five years, resulting in the country being the lowest in the world when it comes to investment to reserves ratio.
He stressed the need to ramp up production in the upstream sector to ensure the success of the midstream and downstream sectors.
To address the issue of energy poverty, the Minister said that Nigeria needs to unravel what other countries have done to bring economic prosperity to their nations despite having abundant oil and gas reserves.
He added that the country must give oil and gas exploration rights to those with proven capacity to benefit Nigerians and the global energy landscape.
In the face of calls for energy transition and a shift away from fossil fuels, the Minister joined the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in rejecting the idea of stopping investments in fossil fuels.
He argued that the West is asking Africa to stop investing in fossil fuels while they continue to invest in the same resources.
The Minister said Nigeria’s refineries, including the Dangote refinery, face a potential crude oil shortage due to low production and a need for increased investments, calling for a ramp-up in production to ensure the success of the midstream and downstream sectors and to address energy poverty in the country.