NIGERIA Agip Oil Company Limited is to invest $15billion into new refinery and power infrastructure in Nigeria, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Kachukwu Ibe has said.
Speaking to State House correspondents after leading top management of the company to a meeting with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Tuesday, he said Agip will build a 150,000 barrel capacity refinery in Port Harcourt or Brass, River state.
According to him, a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect has already been accepted by the company.
He said the building of the refinery would enable Nigeria to migrate from exporting crude to refining for local consumption.
Kachukwu said about the meeting: “We just finished a meeting with the acting president and Agip. In the meeting, we dealt with the issue of Agip investment in Zabazaba field and their cooperation with us in the repairs of Port Harcourt refinery.
“We reviewed following my meeting with Agip, we reached an agreement that Agip will build a brand new refinery of 150,000 barrels capacity which will be located in Port Harcourt or Brass.
“They have accepted and preparing an MOU along this line.
“The effect of this is that oil companies operating in Nigeria will begin to migrate from only exporting crude and begin to look on how to start refining these crude so that we will be able to meet our local consumption.
“With this new refinery and along with other things we are going to do with the refinery in Port Harcourt gives us hope in our quest to try and increase our local capacity to produce every refine product we need in the country and to meet the time line of 2019.
“We are now going ahead to work out the modality with Agip. Am also calling on other multi-nationals to see what they can do along this line.
“In the area of power, Agip has the second largest plant which will be on stream by 2020.
“This is to make sure they are not only just taking away crude but making other local investment.
“Total investment in area of power and the refinery from Agip is in excess of 15billion dollars.”
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