How we plan to end fuel scarcity, grow refining capacity –Senate

UGO AMADI, Houston, Texas

The Senate has assured Nigerians that the challenge of incessant fuel scarcity across the country would soon be a thing of the past as plans are in top gear to involve more private sector players in the construction of new refineries.

Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, gave the assurance in an interview on the sidelines of the Oil Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston Texas.

Bamidele said the Senate is working to ensure that more private sector players are licensed to own and operate refineries to support other smaller ones that are springing up in several parts of the country.

In addition to licensing new refinery operators, he said the Federal Government and Senate are working to ensure that the existing refineries are turned around with repairs and replacement of parts carried out where necessary.

He said the Senate has gotten assurance from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited that two of its refineries in Warri and Port Harcourt would come on stream before the end of year while the Kaduna refinery will become functional before the end of 2025.

Opeyemi maintained that the focus now is to ensure that the country is able to produce more oil in order to meet its Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) production quota, assuring that achieving such milestone will provide more revenue for Government and halt lack and borrowings.

The Senator was upbeat that with the convergence of all these interventions from government and private sector players, the level of fuel imports would reduce drastically or be eliminated, leading to the drop in the price of petrol.

He explained that what drives pricing is the ability to meet demand in the face of every product finding its level and place in a free market.