Losses mount at idle Nigerian refineries
There is little hope that state-owned refiners will resume production, partly due to Covid-19, while the new Dangote refinery is insufficient to meet demand
Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries have been idle for more than a year as they wait for essential maintenance, with little likelihood of resuming production as cashflow constraints and coronavirus-related movement restrictions hamper repairs. The four refineries were completed between 1965 and 1989 and have a combined capacity of 445,000bl/d, which should be sufficient to meet around 70pc of daily domestic demand. The quartet registered combined operational expenses of NGN142.1bn ($367mn) in the 12 months to 30 June despite being out of service, according to the country’s NOC, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Consequently, Africa’s top oil producer is entirely reliant on fu
Also in this section
16 May 2024
Flat oil growth in 2024 highlights mounting industry problems
15 May 2024
Five years ago, Uzbekistan turned to a private company called Saneg to reverse the fortunes of its oil industry. Results so far are encouraging, and according to CEO Tulkin Yusupov, further progress is on the way
13 May 2024
But optimism about island nation checked by competition around African upstream investment and history of false dawns
9 May 2024
Pipeline boosts Canada’s oil industry by widening its export options, making it less reliant on US market and bringing Asia into the mix