The Federal Government appears to be bent on ending the importation of petroleum products by 2019. A hint that the government is driving in this direction was dropped yesterday by the Minister for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu.
Mr. Kachikwu disclosed this at a public hearing on the review of petroleum pricing template convened by the House of Representatives. He said that the government had, in two years, achieved a substantial increase in the output from local refineries. According to him, of the 20 million liters of petrol consumed daily in Nigeria, 8 million were produced by revived local refineries.
The minister explained that repair work on refineries was being carried out in partnership with foreign investors. He said that the NNPC is expected to have contributed to a 60% reduction in petroleum products by the end of 2018; he added that the coming on stream of Dangote’s refinery should lead to the elimination of the domestic petroleum products supply gap.
Mr. Kachikwu expressed the hope that efforts to increase the output of refined petroleum products would end the export of crude oil, as it would give Nigeria the chance to sell refined petroleum products on the international markets instead.
