ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Members of the Independent Petroleum Producers Group have expressed their determination to achieve 1.2 million barrels per day domestic refining capacity of petroleum products by 2020.
They said their group which consists of indigenous companies responsible for natural gas and crude oil production currently produces over 200,000 barrels of oil and over 900 million cubics of gas production per day.
As indigenous operators, they have resolved that domestic refining capacity should not be less than one million by 2020.
The group disclosed further that for the past five years, they have made investment of over $9 billion in acquiring assets and over $ 1billion each year in work programme investment.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, a member of the group, Austin Avuru, said oil and gas production target was one of the issues they discussed with the President.
Avuru, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Petroleum, said,”The issue of private refineries was one of the points we raised with the President.
“We think that by 2020, domestic refining capacity should not be less than one million barrels of oil per day in domestic refining.
“We actually put 1.2 million barrels domestic refining capacity per day and that falls on our doorstep as indigenous operators.”
On how the group intends to achieve the target, Avuru said some construction work was already ongoing by indigenous companies, disclosing that some of the firms were already coming on board with small size refineries in partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
He said these only goes to confirm the fact that their target of 1.2 million barrels per day domestic refining capacity of petroleum products was achievable by 2020.
Avuru said the group thought it necessary to engage the President on issues affecting the sector as a significant segment of the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry,
According to him, “If you watch the way the oil and gas sector is evolving, increasingly the key segments of the oil and gas industry, the onshore segment and the swamp, oil is now falling into the hands of Nigerian independent producers.
“This is why in the past five years, we have made so much investment over $9 billion in just acquiring these assets and over $1 billion each year in work programme investment and this is growing.
“So, we are looking at the segment of the industry that is going to become a very critical partner to government particularly in the delivery of natural gas and other products into the domestic economy.
“We called for the meeting because we realise we needed to engage with Mr. President because we identify with his policy direction. We realised we are very critical partners that he needed to know about and to engage with very early in the administration of the President.
“So, we called for the meeting and he obliged us. Mr. President was very receptive and promised that all the help and support we need to succeed as indigenous producers, we will get them.
“Specific requests will go to the GMD of NNPC when we engage him”.
He added that all key stakeholders, partners of indigenous operators in government were present at the engagement with President Buhari he said.
“We would now follow it up with more specifics when we meet with the GMD NNPC”, Avuru concluded.