The Nigerian Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Emmanuel Kachikwu, has announced that the country will start exporting refined petroleum in 2019.

According to the Minister, the key work in the restoration of the refineries will begin in earnest in August and since the work would be carried out in phases, he is confident that by the end of 2018 the works would have been concluded and Nigeria will refine an adequate amount for both its local consumption and export.Kachikwu added that the refineries, that will be in operation by 2018, would include private refineries, both major ones and seven modular refineries in the Niger Delta region.

The Minister, who is also the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), is currently in Beijing for the NNPC Roadshow for Investors in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. He assured that the mission he is undertaking with the Executive Directors of the NNPC was already a huge success and the reactions gotten from the Chinese investors were indications that the mission was a fruitful venture.

The GMD disclosed that he was sure that after signing a MoU for investment for about $8 billion including some others aligned for the week, the agreements waiting to be executed would not be less than $40 billion with Chinese investors.“China has over time proven its readiness to do business in Nigeria and that is why we started from here after which we will go to India and the Gulf Region. India had in the past been good partners and we know India has one of the best and most modern oil refineries in the world, so we would go to tap into their intelligence on how to get it right in refining. But in China it is the capital to invest and we are not unaware of this, which is the reason we started here and the enthusiasm has been great,” he told Sun news.

Anita Fatunji