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By Adewale Sanyaolu
Crude Oil Refiners Association of Nigeria (CORAN) has called for a 50 per cent waiver on its license renewal fee to enable more indigenous participation. This was as the body equally appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend to its members its intervention fund to enable it grow local refining capacity.
CORAN Board of Trustees Chairman, Chief Emmanuel Iheanacho, made the appeal during a visit to the leadership of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in Abuja.
The body of indigenous oil refiners said the CBN intervention should be similar to the Agricultural Credit Fund and the Pharmaceutical Fund domiciled at the CBN to drive effective and efficient business operations in-country.
They, however, said the 50 per cent waiver should be on company-to-company assessment and granted only to companies with credible challenges. To achieve this, CORAN suggested an annual monitoring of modular refineries to be carried out by the Authority to ensure compliance with government policies.
Presenting other demands of the group, Secretary of CORAN, Mr. Olusegun Ilori, submitted that NNPC should consider taking equity or grant loans to modular refineries via the provision of reformer/other requirement units to ensure adequate production of Premium Motor Spirit(PMS), popularly called petrol based on agreed off take conditions.
It further suggested that the issuance of the import duty waivers for modular refinery equipment be carried out by the Ministries of Finance and Petroleum Resources after due certification of the equipment that qualifies for such waiver. CORAN noted that modular refinery operators with evidence of feedstock challenge be given preference in the allocation of NNPC crude oil which it said should be sold to them in Naira equivalent for that day with guarantee that all the refined petrol be sold in Naira equivalent for that day in-country.
The Association urged NNPC, NMDPRA and NUPRC to engage with licensed modular refineries in order to develop an appropriate commercial model that would guarantee reliable feedstock
‘’The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment (FMITI) should collaborate with Ministry of Petroleum Resources on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) with the view to creating a petroleum refining hub in Nigeria while leveraging on the agreement while quarterly progress reports on modular refinery projects be sent to the Ministry by NMDPRA.
The Ministry should liaise with Nigerian Immigration Service(NIS) to resolve problems associated with issuance of expatriate Quota,”.
Responding, Executive Director, Hydrocarbons Processing Plants, Installation and Transportation Infrastructure, NMDPRA, Mr. Francis Ogaree, further assured CORAN of the Authority’s support, urging them to work closely with the committee that would be set up and avail them the database of their challenges and progress report of its operations.
