SAN FRANCISCO, 06, (THEWILL) – The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has stated that it is shameful that oil-rich Nigeria has continued to import finished petroleum products.
Stressing that the country has to stop importing the products, he stated that the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources was committed to making this happen.
Kachikwu, who disclosed this in a message on his Twitter handle on Tuesday, said, “It is shameful that we’ve continued to import finished products. We need to stop. We are committed to this”.
Nigeria imports a greater percentage of finished petroleum products consumed in the country, even as local refineries have continued to perform below expectation.
THEWILL recalls that the Senate recently directed Kachikwu and the ministry to immediately stop all processes relating to the planned concession of the Port Harcourt Refinery to Agip and Oando Plc.
The upper legislative chamber also constitited an ad hoc committee to carry out an investigation to look into the criteria used to select Agip/Eni and Oando Plc to maintain and operate the refinery, and at what cost and the time frame involved.
