The federal government intends to stop importing refined petroleum products by the third quarter of 2023.
Timipre Sylva, the minister of state for petroleum resources in Nigeria, made the statement during a press conference in Abuja the nation’s capital on Tuesday November [td_block_video_vimeo playlist_title=”” playlist_v=”” playlist_auto_play=”0″]29, 2022.
Sylva said:
“We are expecting that we will actually be exiting the importation of petroleum products from maybe about the third quarter next year if I were to give it a longer timeframe, but I believe that even before the third quarter next year.”
He claimed that because the nation’s refineries are nearing the completion of their rehabilitation, the administration can implement this plan of action. According to Sylva, the Port Harcourt refinery will be producing 60,000 barrels per day of refined crude by the end of December 2022. The refinery has been undergoing renovations at a cost of $1.5 billion.
In contrast to earlier months in 2022, when crude oil theft and other issues slowed progress in the country’s oil sector, Sylva claims Nigeria hopes to reach its OPEC quota by May 2023. Only in October 2022 was Nigeria able to increase its crude oil production output to 1.2 million barrels per day.
The idea that the Port Harcourt Refinery could refine the petroleum products required by the general population at 60,000 barrels per day concerns the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
“If the Warri Refinery will be active by December 2023 and the Kaduna refinery has no definite time for activity resumption, only the Port Harcourt Refinery will be ready by Q3/2023. Is that enough for the country?”
The average daily national consumption of premium motor spirit (PMS), generally known as gasoline, was 60,000,000 liters on November 23, 2022, according to data from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
The 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery was 97% finished in October 2022, according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
