(Ecofin Agency) - General Electric (GE) has revealed plans to invest in Nigeria’s three refineries situated in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna. This is coming after Italian oil major, Eni, revealed plans to cooperate with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the renovation and enhancement of the Port Harcourt refinery.

Speaking during a presentation to the Group Managing Director of NNPC and his team in Abuja, the US multinational company said its partners which include a consortium of Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) partners, off-takers, traders and some financiers, would be involved in the initiative.

“We were involved in the tenders that started around last year which was subsequently withdrawn but our commitment to bringing the refineries on-stream is still very deep and we are very serious about it. We propose that work commences either with the Warri or Port Harcourt Refinery as a pilot, as we set a target to improve the refinery capacity before the end of 2017,” GE said in its presentation.

According to Jeff Immelt (photo), GE’s Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, the company and NNPC have identified some key national power projects with a possible collective capacity of about 4.4 gigawatts and are presently developing the method of intervention.

Anita Fatunji