Indigenous crude oil refiners seek CBN incentives to boost production

The Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), the umbrella body of indigenous crude oil refiners, has appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to create a crude refinery intervention fund like the Agricultural Credit Fund or the Pharmaceutical Fund to drive effective business operations in the country.

The association, led by its board of Trustees’ chairman, Emmanuel Iheanacho, made the appeal during their visit to the leadership of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).

The meeting, which was to interact with all relevant regulatory agencies, after CORAN’s formal registration and was chaired by the NMDPRA’s executive director in charge of Hydrocarbons Processing Plants, Installation and Transportation Infrastructure (HPPITI), Francis Ogaree.

The secretary of CORAN, Olusegun Ilori, appealed to the authority to ensure that incentives that were given to Dangote Refinery are also extended to other refineries.

The association urged NNPC/NMDPRA and NUPRC to engage with the licensed modular refineries to develop an appropriate commercial model that would guarantee reliable feedstock

CORAN also stated that NMDPRA renewal fee of modular refinery license guidelines is revisited and possibly reduced by way of 50 per cent waiver.

They, however, said, it should be on the company-by-company assessment and granted to only companies with credible challenges.

The association suggested yearly monitoring of modular refineries to be carried out by the Authority to ensure compliance with government policies.

The group said NNPC should consider taking equity or grant loans to modular refineries via the provision of reformer/other requirement units to ensure adequate production of PMS based on agreed offtake conditions.

They suggested that the issuance of the import duty waivers for modular refinery equipment be done by the Federal Ministry of Finance after due certification of the equipment that qualified for waiver is done by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

The CORAN said that modular refinery owners with evidence of feedstock challenge be given preference in the allocation of NNPC crude oil.

It suggested that crude oil from the NNPC be sold to modular refinery owners in naira equivalent for that day with a guarantee that all the refined PMS be sold in naira equivalent for that day in-country.

According to them, “the federal ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment (FMITI) to collaborate with Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MPR) on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with the view of creating a Petroleum refining hub in Nigeria while leveraging on the Agreement;

“Quarterly progress reports on modular refinery projects will be sent to the ministry by NMDPRA. The ministry should liaise with Nigerian Immigration Service to resolve problems associated with issuance of expatriate Quota.”

Responding, executive director, Hydrocarbons Processing Plants, Installation and Transportation Infrastructure (HPPITI), NMDPRA, Francis Ogaree and the executive director Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning (ERSP), Dr. Zainab Gobir appreciated the association for coming and assured the team that the President, Muhammadu Buhari is committed to seeing that more refineries are functional.

Ogaree further assured CORAN of the authority’s support and urged they should reach out to the committee that will be set up to work with refineries and hinted at a database of challenges and progress reports on operations.

The association was assured of the government’s economic strategic plan to boost refining in Nigeria from 0.01 per cent to one per cent.