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