Momoh Oyarekhua, the Chairman of the Crude Oil Refineries Association of Nigeria (CORAN), has highlighted that supporting modular refineries will provide Nigerians with access to more affordable fuel.
He made this statement during an interview on Arise Television over the weekend.
Oyarekhua pointed out that government backing for modular refineries would effectively eliminate various expenses.
He specifically mentioned the costs associated with sending crude oil abroad for refining and importing the refined products, expenses related to clearing refined petroleum products at the terminal, port charges, and the involvement of middlemen who transport products to Lome, where operators then ship the petroleum products into Nigeria.
According to Oyarekhua, all these expenses ultimately burden Nigerian citizens, as they are the ones who end up paying higher prices at the fuel pump. He said:
“These are the reasons why fuel pump prices are high. If we produce petrol in the country today, all the costs will be eliminated, and we can have cheaper petrol.”
While addressing the issue of receiving support from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on sustaining modular refineries in the country, Oyarekhua said that the company has been supportive.
“For some of us that have set up our refineries for up to two years now, we thought that we were going to get support from the NNPCL to be able to buy crude oil from them, but that has not been the case.
“We have been engaging them but that has not yielded any fruit yet” he added.
