BEVERLY HILLS, May 31, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has confirmed its plan to purchase a 20 percent minority stake in the Dangote Refinery.
The corporation, in a statement by its Group Managing Director, Malam Mele Kyari, however, said arrangements had not been concluded.
Kyari, in a text message in response to enquiries by THISDAY on the matter, said the terms of the agreement were being finalised and could be the subject of non-disclosure understandings.
He added that the NNPC was interested in acquiring a stake in any private refinery with a capacity in excess of 50,000 barrels per day and not just the Dangote Refinery alone.
He said: “On the Dangote Refinery acquisition, it’s actually an ongoing negotiation that was disclosed by one of our executives. We haven’t concluded; terms are being finalised and may be subject of non-disclosure understandings.
“It’s difficult to discuss the details at this point. However, the decision is for NNPC to expand her portfolio as is the common practice amongst national oil companies as a matter of energy security considerations and risk management. We will take equity from any refinery that plans to process in excess of 50,000 barrels per day, not just the Dangote.”
The 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) integrated Dangote Refinery, expected to process a variety of light and medium grades of crude, including petrol and diesel as well as jet fuel and polypropylene, is owned by Nigeria’s Dangote Group and is worth about $15 billion.
It is designed to produce about 50 million litres of petrol and 15 million litres of diesel a day, roughly 10.4 million tonnes of the product, 4.6 million tonnes of diesel, and four million tonnes of jet fuel per year, in addition to having a fertiliser plant, which will utilise the refinery by-products as raw materials.
