The Group Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, has said that based on new signs in the oil and gas industry, Nigeria will be a net exporter of refined petroleum products by December of this year.
This was disclosed by Kyari on Monday at the National Assembly when economic stakeholders, including the Ministers of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri; and the Governor of the Central Bank, Olayemi Cardoso, met with the Senate Committee on Finance led by Senator Sani Musa of Niger East, according to The Punch.
Kyari claims that the refineries in Port Harcourt, which he predicted would begin production early next month, the Warri refinery which would follow months later, and Kaduna which would begin production at most by December of this year, are the rising indicators.
In addition, he said that all the necessary conditions had already been met for the nation to produce two million barrels of oil per day in a matter of months.
He said, “Mr Chairman and members of the joint committee, let me just confirm that NNPCL and the oil and gas industry are very critical in bringing about a turnaround in our current economic situation, and we understand the importance of this. We are taking every step that is practical for us to achieve this.
“We have already seen growth in our oil and gas production because of certain actions that Mr President personally took, and the very mere truth that we have also declared war on production activities, and this is yielding the required results.
“The combination of these two has now seen us restoring production in our country, and we believe that, as the Honorable Minister has said, we will soon hit the target of 2 million barrels of oil production per day.”
According to Kyari, there have been a number of remarks made in public regarding the refining industry and local production, including that which will originate from the Dangote refinery.
“Yes, this country, as we have said, will be a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of this year.
“We’re very optimistic that by December, this country will be a net exporter. That means a combination of production coming from us, and also from the Dangote refinery and other smaller producing companies that we know are in line to do this. So, I can confirm to you that by the end of the year, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum products,” he stated.
On the government refineries, he mentioned, “We have spoken to a number of your committees, and it is impossible to have the Kaduna refinery come into operation before December, it will get to December, both Warri and Kaduna; but that of Port Harcourt will commence production early in August this year.”
Meanwhile, the CBN Governor, represented by the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Muhammad Abdullahi said there will soon be a decreasing trend in the three difficulties of growing inflation, changes in foreign exchange rates, and food inflation.
