Minister: FG Is Committed To Helping Dangote Refinery And Others

The $20 billion Dangote Refinery near Lagos would receive support from the Federal Government, according to Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil).

He made this claim on Wednesday in Abuja before an Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Senator Opeyemi Bamidele regarding suspected economic sabotage in the petroleum sector.

Additionally, we’re determined to help the Dangote Refinery. As part of our commitment to supporting the modular refineries, we have been fixing any issues that have occasionally come to our attention, said Lokpobiri.

“As a government, safeguarding the regional economy is our first priority. There are just one or the other way. We are dedicated to safeguarding all parties involved in the oil industry; the government bears the obligation of ensuring that each and every stakeholder is protected, not just one corporation or one regulator.

“We’re determined to give everyone the same level of protection. And we have been doing just that,” the minister said.

In order to “reduce the level of import that we need to be able to serve the needs of Nigerians,” he also reaffirmed the government’s commitment to finishing the restoration of the three state-owned refineries.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited was instructed by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in late July to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other nearby refineries in naira rather than US dollars.

The goal of the legislation was to lessen the burden on the nation’s foreign debt, stabilize the price of gasoline, diesel, and other products at the pump, and increase domestic production of refined petroleum products in Nigeria.

Dangote-FG Fight
Aliko Dangote, a prominent industrialist and the owner of the Dangote Refinery, has accused international oil companies and the government of impeding the flow of crude oil to his $20 billion plant, which is located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone close to Lagos.

The billionaire industrialist maintained that the products at his refinery were of higher quality than those imported by marketers, even when regulatory bodies later questioned the quality of petroleum products manufactured at the Dangote Refinery.

Dangote started producing 350,000 barrels per day at his massive plant in Lagos last December. By year’s end, the refinery intends to reach its maximum capacity of 650,000 barrels per day.

The refinery has started providing diesel and aviation fuel to national marketers; despite regulatory opposition, the supply of gasoline is anticipated to start in August.