Nigeria Spends N120bn Annually to Keep Refineries Idle

By Ediri Ejoh

Society of Petroleum Engineers, SPE, Nigeria Council has lamented the huge amount of money the country spent to keep its non-performing refineries.

Speaking ahead of SPE Nigeria Energy Industry Transformation Summit bid to run from 25 to 27th August, the Council Chairman, Mr Joe Nwakwue said that on annual basis, the country refineries gulp nothing less than N120 billion.

"We understand that refinery is a key national asset and it is in the national interest that they are optimally run from commercial perspective and we think private sector are in better position to do that than public sector.

"It's important to recognized that it serve no purpose that we have refineries that are sitting idle across the country. They don't just seat idle; we still spend money to keep them idle.

"If you look at the annual report of NNPC, you will see clearly about N120 billion operating loss for these facilities and its consistency over the years. If we keep them next year, that is how much loss we are going to incurred as a nation.

"It's not in our national interest to continue to pump money into things that are not adding value. From that perspective, it's only reasonable to say that we should have sold this asset long time ago to those who can run it.

"Am very sure that assuming we take that step; our exchange rate won't be what it is today. Assuming we sold it 10 years ago, today we might have exit import completely.

Speaking on the upcoming event, Nwakwue said that the 3-day online summit tagged; "Changing global energy landscape: strategies for industry sustainability will offer the country and key stakeholders directions to remain relevant in a changing world.

"We are going to have three plenary sessions on the first day we are going to be discussing "economic development and environmental stewardship; opportunities for the energy industry" and on the secondary, "domestic refining for sustainable development" and on the last day, we will discuss "global energy transition: remaining relevant in a changing world."

"The panellists were carefully selected and composed of highly experienced industry thought leaders and practitioners who have demonstrable competences in these areas.

"SPE is indeed blessed that they accepted to come and share their perspectives on these issues and we are grateful for their support and commitment and look forward to exciting and highly productive sessions."

This article originally appeared on Vanguard

Photo: Vanguard