According to the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, licensed private refineries in the country have proposed combined refining capacity of 1,429,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
The DPR also stressed that it has not withdrawn the license of any private refinery in the country.
The agency said in a statement over the weekend that it was in alignment with the federal government’s aspiration of improving Nigeria’s refining capacity by strengthening its regulatory oversight function of the petroleum sector.
According to the agency, there are three stages of licencing for establishment of private refineries in Nigeria- License to Establish (LTE); Approval to Construct (ATC) and License to Operate (LTO).
The DPR further stated that it granted LTE to 21 companies with a validity period of 18 months in 2002
“In 2004, 17 out of the earlier granted LTE were granted ATC for a 24 month validity period. The Department in 2007 reviewed the existing guidelines and a new guiding document, “Guidelines for the Establishment of Hydrocarbon Processing Plants in Nigeria” was introduced to ensure that only committed investors were licensed,” said the statement.
Based on this reviewed guidelines, DPR stated that there were currently 25 private refinery licenses granted to companies with 21 in the LTE category, while four in the Approval to Construct (ATC) category.
“Furthermore, three of the 25 licensed companies are billed to construct conventional stick-build plants while 22 will construct modular units with a proposed combined refining capacity of 1,429,000 bpd,” the statement added.
