FG Moves to Integrate Artisanal Refiners into Mainstream Crude Oil Refining

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The federal government has inaugurated a technical committee charged with the responsibility to fashion ways of integrating artisanal oil refiners into mainstream crude oil refining.

The government said the move would provide sustainable energy sources for Nigerians and advance responsible practices in the oil and gas sector.

A statement signed by the Assistant Director (Information) at the Ministry of Petroleum, Chris Ugwuegbulam, said the Permanent Secretary, Gabriel Aduda, inaugurated the committee in Abuja.

In his opening remarks, Aduda stated that the persistent request by the artisanal oil refiners was brought to the attention of President Bola Tinubu, who directed the ministry to review and propose the way forward.

Aduda subsequently approved the proposal to constitute a technical committee on ‘subsidy removal without tears as well as integration of mini/artisanal refinery operations’ into the in-country oil refinery programme.

The committee’s terms of reference included: to develop materials/framework for the sensitisation and integration of the mini/artisanal refiners into midstream crude oil refining and to ascertain the technology, skills, safety and environmental global best practices in the petroleum industry.

It is also to facilitate the mainstreaming of artisanal refineries to boost in-country refining capacity at the required specifications; to identify the sources of fund for the integration and establishment of the local refiners into the economy and structure the refund mechanism.

In addition, it seeks to facilitate the provision of crude oil for experimental and research purposes to institutions with prototype refineries for testing their equipment and, to review and make recommendations to the president on ways to task  national technical institutions in building standard refineries for refining the crude in-country.