Nigeria: Refinery Upgrades on the Way
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Friday, 12 October 2012 |
The Nigerian government has said that it will spend around $1.6bn upgrading three of the country’s refineries, with the investment beginning in the last quarter of this year. The cash will go towards fixing up the Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna facilities, which are in need of maintenance. The announcement was made by the Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke (pictured), who was speaking during a senate session committee into the government’s failure to fix the refineries. Once the upgrades are complete the facilities will be capable of producing up to 370,000 barrels per day.
The committee also discussed why fuel prices differed in some parts of the country. “Since the price changes in January it has become difficult for market forces to stabilise at the official price. There is a major issue of supply partly due to subsidy payments,” explained Alison-Madueke.
Committee chairman Magnus Abe questioned the minister’s explanation. “How can filling stations sell at N97 per litre when the PPMC, as we discovered, collected money from marketers without supplying them the product on time?” he asked. He also asked the minister to try to make the price-setting process more transparent.
PetrolWorld 12102012
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