Agip oil fi rm has concluded plans to build a new refi nery of 150,000 barrels per day refining capacity in Port Harcourt. Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, who disclosed this at the end of his meeting with the Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and Agip management, said the total cost of the project is placed at $15 billion. A c c o r d i n g t o t h e Minister, the refi nery when completed would increase local production output and help Nigeria to realize the objective of producing every refi ned product in accordance with 2019 timeline.
“We just fi nished a meeting with the Acting president and Agip. We reviewed following my meeting with Agip, we reached an agreement that Agip will build a brand new refinery of 150,000barrels capacity which will be located in Port Harcourt or Brass. They have accepted and preparing an MOU along this line. “Th e eff ect of this is that oil companies operating in Nigeria will begin to migrate from only exporting crude and begin to look on how to start refi ning the crude so that we will be able to meet our local consumption.
“With this new refi nery and along with other things we are going to do with therefinery in Port harcourt gives us hope in our quest to try and increase our local capacity to produce every refi ne product we need in the country and to meet the time line of 2019. “We are now going ahead to work out the modality with Agip. I am also calling on other multi nationals to see what they can do along this line. “In the area of power, Agip has second largest plant which will be on stream by 2020. “Th is is to make sure they are not only just taking away crude but making other local investment. Total investment in area of power and the refi nery from Agip is in excess of 15billion dollars.
” Kachukwu also disclosed the meeting dealt with the issue of Agip investment in Zabazaba fi eld and their cooperation with us in the repairs of Port Harcourt refi nery.
