…Says $100m-$350m can build refinery in 18 months
Kunle Kalejaye 08 June 2016, Sweetcrude, Lagos – A US-based financial expert has suggested that it would cost the Nigerian government between $100 to $350 million to construct a turnkey development model of modular refinery plants that would provide short-term solution to fuel scarcity.
President of Financialbridge International, Carol Abelleria, who stated this at the African Modular Refinery seminar in Lagos said several units of modular refineries with capacity of 6,000, 12,000 and 20,000 barrels per day could be funded and rapidly deployed in locations within the Niger Delta region as well as at sites along the 370 miles of Warri-Kaduna oil pipelines.
She said the turnkey development model of modular refinery will take 18 to over 36 months implementation schedule.
In addition to constructing modular refineries to solve refined petroleum products scarcity, Abelleria said there was need for Nigeria to develop Public Private Partnership, PPP, between the Federal Government, State and Private sector in securing funds from US Export Financial Market and Private Equity Funds Managers to finance development of US-manufactured modular refinery projects in the country.
Outlining the benefits of funding and developing modular refinery projects led by the private sector within the PPP, Abelleria said it would enable the Federal Government to optimise the economic value of its crude oil assets for sustained long-term economic growth.
Other benefits, according her, include “state availability of refined petroleum products in Nigeria at an affordable price to Nigerian citizens and eliminating the costs of importation of refined products by the government.
“Assisting in the industrialisation of Nigeria, with the benefits of job creation and skills development. Discouraging pipeline vandalism by giving host oil communities opportunities as stakeholders in the modular refinery projects using community cooperative unions as holding companies”.
