The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said the country does not have the financial capability to build new refineries.
On Monday, Mele Kyari, NNPC Group Managing Director, cited the economic situation of the country.
Kyari spoke to reporters on the controversy generated by the proposed rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery.
He explained that a new refinery would cost about $10billion, while the planned renovation would gulp $1.5billion.
The MD said if the government decides to construct a new facility, petroleum products, especially Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) will be imported for another four years.
“A new refinery will take four years to commence production. It is around $7billion and $12billion dollars to construct a refinery of this nature,” he said.
Kyari stated that estimates in public space are inaccurate and do not take other factors into account.
The NNPC chief mentioned “an additional 25 per cent cost for construction battle-limits” to the 7-12 billion dollars.
“You cannot build a refinery at any cost below these amounts. The option you have is to scrap and build a new one; we all know that we don’t have that resource,” he stated.
Kyari added that the last turnaround maintenance of the Port Harcourt refinery was done two decades ago.
He linked the current high cost of rehabilitation to poor maintenance of the plant over the years.
