Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, says it has issued 21 licences to investors to establish new refineries in Nigeria.
The agency, in a statement at the weekend, disclosed that 25 private refinery licences were granted to companies with 21 in the Licence to Establish, LTE, category, while four are in the Approval to Construct, ATC, category.”
DPR explained in the statement that three out of the 25 licensed companies will construct conventional stick-build plants, while 22 will construct modular units with a proposed combined refining capacity of 1,429,000bpd.
According to the body, it has not withdrawn the licence of any private refinery, but only in alignment with the Federal Government’s aspiration of improving the country’s refining capacity by strengthening its regulatory oversight function.
It noted that, “There are three stages of licencing for establishment of private refineries in Nigeria, namely; Licence to Establish, Approval to Construct and Licence to Operate, LTO.”
“DPR granted LTE to 21 companies with a validity period of 18 months in 2002. In 2004, 17 out of the earlier granted LTE were granted ATC for a 24 month validity period.
“The Department in 2007 reviewed the existing guidelines and a new guiding document ‘Guidelines for the Establishment of Hydrocarbon Processing Plants in Nigeria’ was introduced to ensure that only committed investors were licenced,” the statement added.
