The Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria has appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria to create a crude refinery intervention fund domiciled at the CBN to drive effective in-country business operations.
The association, led by their Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Emmanuel Iheanacho, made the appeal during members’ visit to the leadership of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, in Abuja.
Speaking on behalf of the Association, Secretary of CORAN, Barrister Olusegun Ilori, appealed to the authorities to ensure that all incentives that were given to Dangote refinery would also be extended to other refineries.
The Association urged NNPC, NMDPRA and the NUPRC to engage with licensed modular refineries in order to develop an appropriate commercial model that would guarantee reliable feedstock.
Coran stated that NMDPRA renewal fee for modular refinery license guidelines would be revisited and possibly reduced in the form of 50 per cent waiver.
They, however, said that it should be on the company-by-company assessment, noting that it would be granted only to companies with credible challenges.
CORAN suggested that annual monitoring of modular refineries to be carried out by the authorities should ensure compliance with government policies.
According to them, “The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment (FMITI) should collaborate with Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MPR) on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with the view of creating a petroleum refining hub in Nigeria while leveraging on the Agreement;
“Quarterly progress reports on modular refinery projects should be sent to the Ministry by NMDPRA.
“The Ministry should liaise with Nigerian Immigration Service to resolve problems associated with issuance of expatriate Quota,” they added.
Responding to CORAN, management of NMDPRA led by the Executive Director Hydrocarbons Processing Plants, Installation and Transportation Infrastructure, HPPITI, Francis Ogaree, and the Executive Director Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning, Dr. Zainab Gobir, assured the team that President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), was committed to seeing that more refineries were functional.
Credit: punchng.com
