Plans are underway by the Italy-owned
international oil company, ENI, to refurbish the
Port Harcourt refinery. In a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
signed by the oil firm and the Nigerian National
Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in Rome, Italy,
yesterday, the company would also build the
phase two of the Okpai Power Plant. A statement by the Director, Press, Ministry of
Petroleum, Idang Alibi, quoted the Minister of
State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu,
who is in Rome, as urging international oil
Companies (IoCs) to invest in building refineries
in Nigeria.

Speaking at a presentation to top executives of
ENI in Rome, Italy, Kachikwu enjoined the group
to move beyond just the business of crude
exploration to firmly supporting the vision of
enhancing local production of petroleum
products in Nigeria by building refineries in the country. The minister stated that the major plan of the
Federal Government is to stop importation of
petroleum products in the long term and that it
would be expedient that every IoC should invest
in building a refinery with a chain of
distributions. Kachikwu assured that if IoCs build refineries
within a short period of time, investment in the
venture could be recouped by direct sales model. He explained that the government desires to
upgrade old refineries and build new ones, thus
increasing local production capacity with an
objective to reduce importation of petroleum
products by 60 per cent in 2018, and by 2019 to
become a net exporter of petroleum products and value-added petrochemicals.

In continuation of the ongoing investment drive
in Italy, Kachikwu would also be meeting the
Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Economic
Development of Italy to formalise the new trend
of cooperation between oil majors and Nigeria.

Guardianng