PENGASSAN urges FG to build more refineries across Nigeria

Comrade Folorunso Oginni, Lagos Zonal Chairman of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) wants the Federal Government to obtain World Bank loans for building more refineries in each geo-political zone of the country.

Oginni, who spoke at a media parley with newsmen on why government’s reversal of sale of refineries would be an opportunity to build more, taking cognisance of the fact that the four refineries, if they produced at the main installed capacity will produce 18.2million liters on daily basis, compared to the consuming over 38 million liters daily in Nigeria called for more refineries to be built in Nigeria.

He “advised government to take loans from World Bank to build more refineries, may be one in each geo-political zone of the country because current refineries were built as far back as 1979. We have four refineries. If they produced at the main installed capacity they will produce 18.2 million liters on daily basis and we are consuming over 38 million liters daily in Nigeria.

“This means that even if these refineries produced at 100percent installed capacity, we will have a very big gap between 18million and 38million which is 20million gaps on daily basis.

“Unfortunately the refineries are not producing at installed capacities because they are obsolete”, he further said.

The labour leader claimed that the workers of the NNPC in most cases, are involved in fabricating equipment on daily basis to produce at current level, adding that “if Nigeria is growing in population, and if we are getting money from export of crude of oil on daily basis, what stops us from doubling the number of refineries we had since 1979 today?

“If a country like Singapore can have about 60 refineries, without crude oil. The country import the crude oil, refine it, sale and make profit.