(Ecofin Agency) - A community in the oil producing State of Nigeria has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with OnoseDeep Oil and Gas Limited, for the acquisition of an acreage for the construction of a modular refinery in the area.

According to the Executive Secretary of OnoseDeep Oil and Gas Limited, Jim Elueni, the refinery when completed will produce 48, 000 barrels of refined petroleum products per day.

This he declared after a meeting with the leaders of Ellu Kingdom of Isoko North Local Government of Delta State.

“We are partnering the Chinese government, but we are doing it with Key Hands Finance that is providing the finances for us and we have Beijing-based Wison Engineering Limited as our technical partners which was recommended to us by the Chinese government,” Elueni told Vanguard news.

Nigeria’s economy has been destabilized by the decline in the prices of crude oil in the global market as well as by attacks in the Niger Delta region by militants. These factors have reduced oil production from the initial 2.2 million bpd to 1.5 million bpd since the beginning of this year.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu, has said that Nigeria must produce 1.1 million bopd between now and the end of 2016 in order to meet the 2016 budget expectation.

Anita Fatunji