Nigeria vows to end fuel imports by 2019

ABUJA, May 23, 2017 – Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum resources, vowed on Monday to resign if he fails to wean his country off of fuel imports by 2019.

Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest crude exporters, has been importing about 80% of its fuel in recent years, and the oil ministry has sought to bring multinationals onboard to refurbish the country’s existing refineries and to build additional capacities.

In recent weeks and months, there have been some notable successes. Eni reportedly agreed to build a 150,000-bpd greenfield refinery in early May, while refinery output registered a major spike in the first quarter of the year.

Other multinationals, including GE, have also expressed an interest in investing in Nigeria’s refineries.

“Since coming we have been able to get them back to begin to produce 7 million litres versus zero,” said Kachikwu in an interview with the BBC.

“We are now refurbishing the refineries.”

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