Fuel scarcity: Nine companies bid to construct new refineries

Vitol SA and Seplat Petroleum Dev. Co. are among nine companies that submitted bids to construct new oil refineries in Nigeria as Africa’s top crude producer seeks to boost output of refined fuel and end its dependence on imports, an official said.
The successful companies will build near existing state-owned plants and add at least 250,000 barrels per day of refining capacity to the current 445,000 barrels, NNPC spokesman Garba Deen Muhammad said in an interview. The government’s refineries are located in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.

“The aim is to leverage on the existing facilities to fast-track the take-off of the refineries as soon as possible,” Anibo Kragha, the NNPC’s chief operating officer in charge of refineries, said in a statement on Thursday.

Gasoline shortages are common in Africa’s largest economy, which imports about 70 per cent of its refined-fuel needs, straining the nation’s finances and foreign-currency reserves. Decades of poor maintenance and mismanagement left Nigeria’s four stateowned refineries working at a fraction of their capacity.

The new, smaller refineries will become operational within 12 to 24 months, while the existing plants will be rehabilitated to operate at a minimum 70 per cent of their capacity within the next six to eight months, according to the NNPC. Emmanuel Otokhine, a spokesman for Seplat, said he couldn’t immediately comment when contacted by Bloomberg. Vitol didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
A technical evaluation committee set to study the bids will name winners “as soon as possible,” Kragha said.