NNPC Eyes 650,000 Barrel Per Day Refining Capacity

In its bid to reduce fuel importation into the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has opened bid for the co-location of new refineries within the complexes of its three existing refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.

NNPC said in a statement by its spokesperson, Garuba Deen Mohammed, on Thursday, March 31, that the open bid exercise was a demonstration of the determination of the federal government and NNPC to increase the nation’s refining capacity from 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 650,000bpd.

It quoted its chief operating officer (COO) of refineries, Anibo Kragha as making this disclosure when the technical bids of the companies were opened in Abuja.

According to the statement, a technical evaluation committee has been set up to study the bids and announce winners as soon as possible.

It said the exercise was witnessed by representatives of the Nigerian Extractives Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

According to the statement, Kragha said the corporation was committed to boosting the nation’s refining capacity which in turn would end the perennial fuel shortages in the country.

f Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s two biggest oil producers, agreed to an output freeze at January levels, the price of oil recovered some of its losses from $30 a barrel to about $40 a barrel.
However, Iran has said it will not freeze oil output, as it is keen on raising production following the lifting of international sanctions after it agreed to stop its nuclear programme.

But as OPEC and non-OPEC producers prepare to meet, the United States has fast become a big importer of oil again, Bloomberg has reported.
In the three months since the U.S. lifted its 40-year ban on crude oil exports, U.S. crude shipments to foreign buyers have stalled.

At the same time, imports into the U.S. jumped to a three-year high in what looks to be a reversal of a yearslong decline in the amount of foreign crude brought into the American market.
According to the report, refineries are choosing to buy imports instead of West Texas Intermediate (WTI), an oil variant produced in the US. One of the major beneficiaries is Nigeria, which is regaining lost market share. Imports from Nigeria surged to 559,000 barrels a day in mid-March, compared with an average of 52,000 in all of 2015.