38 investors to establish refineries in N/Delta – Osinbajo

Thirty eight licensed privately financed greenfield and mini-modular refinery investors have so far indicated interests in establishing refineries in the Niger Delta region, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has disclosed.

The vice president said at least ten of the licensed refineries investors were at an advanced stage of development.

He quoted a report received at the endof-the-year meeting of the Niger Delta InterMinisterial Committee at the Presidential Villa in Abuja before the holidays, according to a statement Saturday by his spokesman, Laolu Akande.

“The advanced stage of development means that these projects have passed the Licence to Establish (LTE) stage, while some have the Authority to Construct (ATC) licence or close to having it because they have met some critical requirements in the Licensed stage. There are three stages in the process of refinery establishment,” he said.

“So far, 10 modular refineries are located in five out of the nine states in the Niger Delta region; namely Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Imo states. Also, two out of these 10 Amakpe Refinery meant to be located in Akwa Ibom, and OPAC Refinery to be based in Delta State - have their mini-refineries modules already fabricated, assembled and containerized overseas, ready for shipment to Nigeria for installation. The total proposed refining capacities of the 10 licensed refineries stands at 300,000 barrels,” the statement explained.