By Sebastine Obasi

To encourage local refining of petroleum products, the Crude Oil  Refiners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), the umbrella body of indigenous crude oil refiners has appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), to create crude refinery intervention fund like that of Agricultural Credit Fund or the Pharmaceutical Fund domiciled at the CBN.

The Association which made the appeal during their visit to the leadership of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in Abuja believes such fund will drive effective business operations in-country

CORAN also appealed to the Authority to ensure that all incentives that were given to Dangote Refinery are also extended to other refineries.

It urged NNPC/NMDPRA and NUPRC to engage with the licensed modular refineries in order to develop an appropriate commercial model that would guarantee reliable feedstock

In their presentation to NMDPRA, made by Olusegun Ilori, its Secretary, the Association stated that the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment (FMITI) should collaborate with Ministry of Petroleum Resources (MPR) on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) so as to create a Petroleum​ refining hub in Nigeria while leveraging on the agreement;

It also called for quarterly progress reports on modular refinery projects which should be sent to the Ministry by NMDPRA.

Speaking at the event, the Executive Director Hydrocarbons Processing Plants, Installation and Transportation Infrastructure, NMDPRA Mr Francis Ogaree stated that President, Muhammadu Buhari is committed to seeing that more refineries are functional in the country.

Ogaree assured CORAN of the Authority’s support and urged them to reach out to the committee that will be setup to work with refineries for more collaboration.

The Association was also reminded of government’s strategic economic plan to boost refining in Nigeria from a 0.01 per cent to 1 per cent.

He said, “The Authority will support the association, not only as regulators but  as partners for progress of the sector to ensure that the refining goal and vision for the country is achieved.

At the end of the meeting the following steps were agreed upon: Recommendations of CORAN will be reflected in meetings with other oil and gas regulators at available opportunities; A working group of operations staff of CORAN members and senior offices of the Hydrocarbons Division will meet regularly to resolve any issues affecting member companies; CORAN members will give details of their nominations to Executive Director Hydrocarbons without delay; Members of CORAN are to visit the website of the Authority to look at the draft of  regulations being prepared for the purpose of making input to address our concerns.