Following the deplorable state of the nation's refineries which has resulted in local refining shortfall, and increase in the importation of petroleum products over the years, a National Refinery Task Force was yesterday inaugurated by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke.
The Task Force was charged with reviewing the current state of the refineries vis-à-vis the domestic requirement and provide a roadmap to grow the nation’s refining capacity, both new and existing, to meet domestic demand.
The minister noted that government's long term plan was to attain adequate local refining capacity to fully meet the requirements of domestic consumption.
“The present administration is determined to reverse the continued negative trend in the refineries’ performance. It is for this reason we are reaching out to patriotic Nigerians with undisputed credibility to brain-storm and seek holistic solutions to re-align our refineries to global standards,” Madueke said.
The committee's terms of reference includes to? review the operations of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries, with a view to improving efficiency and commercial viability, and to work with a world-class firm to audit the finances of the refineries and produce audited accounts over the past 2 years ending 31st December, 2011.
The task force has 60 days timeline to? review all licenses issued for new refineries in Nigeria and assess their operational, technical, and financial readiness as well as design a blueprint for Public Private Partnerships (PPP) to build small, medium to large-scale greenfield refineries across the country with a view to boosting local production to meet 100 per cent of local consumption by 2017.
Other members of the 22 member committee which is chaired by Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, former Minister of Finance are Mallam Yusuf Alli, alternate Chairman, Prof. Ayo Ogunye, Mr. Imo Itsueli amongst others.
