The Nigerian government has granted a license for the construction of a 10,000 barrels per day refinery, indicating its commitment to improving local oil production capacity and reducing import dependency. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority approved the new license for MRO Energy Limited, for the construction of a 10,000 barrels per stream day refinery in Ughelli, Delta State.
The new approval comes few months after the authority had granted another license to Process, Design and Development Limited to construct a new 27,000 barrels per day Refinery in Gombe State. With these approvals, Nigeria now has 11 modular and regular refineries, a major boost for the country’s local refining capacity.
Earlier this month, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria announced a new partnership with some stakeholders which will lead to the construction of another refinery with an initial capacity of 50,000 barrels per day.
For many years, Nigeria had depended majorly on importation of refined petroleum product due to its lack of local refining capacity and the moribund facilities in the country. The over reliance on fuel importation created the controversial subsidy regime which many analysts say was riddled with corruption.
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However, in May 2023, the government announced the removal of subsidy, paving the way for the full deregulation of the oil sector and the gradual resurgence of state owned refineries in Warri and Port Harcourt. With the coming on stream of Dangote, the state owned refineries and other modular facilities, Nigeria is hoping to become more self sufficient in its local oil production.
