Refinery Business in Nigeria Stakeholders Disagrees with Shell

By Stanley Opara
Some stakeholders in the oil and gas industry have advised Shell Petroleum Development Company to reconsider its decision not go into refinery business in Nigeria.
They pointed out that the firm had successfully done business in the country over the years and should be ready to make sacrifices now that there was the need to do so.
Shell had said investing in refineries in Nigeria was not a viable business.

A member of the independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, and Executive Director, Fowobi Enterprise Limited, Chief Gbenga Oguntayo, said there was nowhere in the world where building refineries was seen as viable.
He said having reaped huge business dividend from the shores of Nigeria, Shell and other international oil companies should consider it a thing of pride to develop the country from which they had achieved so much.
Refinery Business in Nigeria Stakeholders Disagrees with Shell
“We need to develop Nigeria; we need working refineries for this to happen. Shell and others should willingly volunteer to help Nigeria,



” he added.
Oguntayo said, at this point, it was not rational for Shell to weigh the viability or otherwise of building refineries in Nigeria, stressing that the effort to build the country should be a priority to all, especially for those that had benefitted from the system.
Commenting on the issue, the Director, Department of Petroleum Resources, Mr. Osten Olorunshola, said though the firm had hitherto said it would not build refineries in Nigeria; it was still possible for it to reverse that stand.
The DPR boss said Shell could reconsider the situation if advised in the future.
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Downstream), Mr. Dakuku Peterside, had told our correspondent that there was a provision in the Petroleum Industry Bill, which said that “if you produce a certain quantity of crude oil, it is mandatory that you must establish a refinery in Nigeria.”
Refinery Business in Nigeria Stakeholders Disagrees with Shell

“You can imagine the employment that will be created when you have many refineries across the country. Whether we like it or not, there will be a minimum of seven major oil companies that will be compelled by that law within 24 months to establish refineries in Nigeria,” he maintained.
Peterside added, “And so, common sense tells me that those 24 months after the passage of the law, we will have a minimum of seven refineries. It is common sense application. You do not need any technical assistance to arrive at that.
The legislator noted that if there was anything that would address the Nigerian situation, especially as it related to the oil and gas, it was the PIB.
He said the PIB would significantly address environmental challenges associated with exploration and drilling of oil, which was one of the challenges being faced in the Niger Delta area.
He described the PIB as a reform- focused bill, saying, “This simply means that it will reform a system that has been running for many years without any major attention. First, it will harmonize all existing laws that concern the oil industry. Secondly, it intends to promote more transparency in the way business is conducted in the oil and gas industry. So, we need to inject transparency into it.”
Source Punch Nigeria Newspaper