\n Nigeria is open to selling its state-owned refineries as part of broader efforts to inject competition into an oil industry now dominated by the massive Dangote Refinery.\n <\/p>\n
\n The Nigerian National Petroleum Company\u2019s (NNPC) four refineries, with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, have processed little to no crude for decades, despite repeated rehabilitation attempts costing billions of dollars.\n <\/p>\n
\n Selling them is now \u201cone of the options\u201d under consideration, according to Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to the President on Energy.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIf you find the right technical partner with the right capital, it\u2019s an option you have to consider,\u201d she told Bloomberg TV.\n <\/p>\n
Market reforms and new competition<\/p>\n
\n Verheijen noted that the facilities had long been sustained by subsidies, which distorted the market. \u201cNow that we\u2019ve removed the subsidies, we\u2019ve removed the distortions in that market,\u201d she said.\n <\/p>\n
\n Any sale of the refineries would put new investors in direct competition with the 650,000-barrel-a-day Dangote Refinery, owned by Africa\u2019s richest man, Aliko Dangote.\n <\/p>\n
\n Dangote refinery recently said it already produces more gasoline and diesel than Nigeria can consume, and last month announced plans to more than double its capacity.\n <\/p>\n
\n Meanwhile, NNPC said it is continuing efforts to revive its own refineries by seeking technical equity partners capable of operating its Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna plants at international standards.\n <\/p>\n