President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pledged to improve the power and oil sectors by 2024.
He claimed that the continuing work in the power and oil sectors would be delivered soon during his New Year’s Day address to Nigerians on January 1, 2024.
According to him, his administration has been trying to improve service delivery across several sectors in the remaining seven months of 2023. He mentioned the power and oil industries as two areas of attention for this purpose.
Tinubu stated during his speech that after laying the framework for the country’s economic recovery plans in the last seven months of 2023, the administration is now set to boost the pace of service delivery across different sectors.
“Having laid the groundwork for our economic recovery plans in the final seven months of 2023, we are now poised to accelerate the pace of our service delivery across sectors,” he said.
“Just this past December, during COP28 in Dubai, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and I agreed and committed to a new deal to accelerate the delivery of the Siemens Energy power project, which will eventually deliver a reliable supply of electricity to our homes and businesses under the Presidential Power Initiative, which began in 2018.
“Other power installation projects are underway across the country to strengthen the reliability of our transmission lines and optimize the integrity of our national grid. My administration recognizes that no substantial economic development can occur in the absence of a steady electricity supply.
“In 2024, we are moving a step further in our quest to restart local refining of petroleum products with Port Harcourt Refinery, and the Dangote Refinery which shall fully come on stream.”
The Tinubu administration declared the mechanical completion of the Port Harcourt refinery in 2023. However, it is critical to note that, despite this achievement, the refinery is not yet ready to process crude oil.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has set a target date of 2024 for the completion of phase two of the Port Harcourt refinery. GCEO of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, previously stated:
“In order to ensure that this refinery is re-streamed and continues to provide value to Nigerians, we promised that we would complete phase one of the rehabilitation project mechanically by the end of December and have the other plants operational by 2024. We have kept those promises to this day.
“We have completed phase one. We will complete phase two as promised by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024.”
It is worth noting that the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, recently declared that Nigeria seeks to become a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of 2024.
During the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria October 9 Energy and Labour Summit in Abuja, Kyari assured Nigeria’s readiness to become a net exporter of petroleum products in 2024, noting that this is within sight and is consistent with the President’s goal of delivering immediate benefits of sufficient in-country volumes while creating export revenue.
Furthermore, the Dangote refinery hopes to begin operations in 2024 after receiving multiple shipments of crude oil, bringing the 650,000 barrels per day plant closer to completion.
However, it is vital to note that the Dangote refinery will initially focus on refining diesel and aviation fuel before it begins producing premium motor spirit, commonly known as petrol, for domestic consumption.
