The Managing Director of the Bank of Industry Limited has pledged to finance the Waltersmith refinery
This comes days after the refinery commenced production of over 600 million litres of various products
The BOI boss revealed that discussion is already in the pipeline for a financing agreement for the refinery.
Dr Olasupo Olusi, the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry Limited, has said it will collaborate with modular refineries to solve economic challenges in the country. He said this during his visit to Waltersmith Refinery, Ibigwa, in Imo State, on Tuesday, November 22, 2023.
This refinery has started producing over 600 million litres of various products and dispatching 20 trucks daily.
New partnerships established
The MD claimed in a Guardian report that to create local content, the BOI has partnered with Waltersmith and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB). He said that this would aid in controlling the nation’s inflation and other economic problems. Olusi mentioned that nationalizing the country’s energy supplies was part of the strategy for the localization of industry.
The BoI boss said:
So it is for this reason that we are already in partnership with NCDMB and Waltersmith. We have talks that are in a very advanced stage of the financing agreement to support the growth and development of modular refineries in general and Waltersmith in particular.
We are very open and committed to supporting modular refineries. If we can support modular refineries more, we will be able to manage inflation better and of course, the physical pressure in terms of all the noise around the minimum wage may be reduced.
And so for us, our engagement is strategic in this very critical sector of the economy.
He urged for more active modular refineries in the country, adding that such would address energy, oil, and gas problems.
FG to support modular refineries
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, also pledged support to modular refineries in terms of financial support and other necessary assistance to encourage maximum protectivity.
He said his duty as Minister of Petroleum Resources was to ensure that Nigeria had enough supply of refined petroleum products for the consumption of Nigerians.
Lokpobiri noted that investment in modular refineries is the shortest way of solving energy problems. He also added that the government will do whatever it can to support them.
He stated that the most significant challenges modular refineries have are feedstock and access to funding, which are already being addressed. According to him, it is not enough to give people with modular refinery licenses and money.
There is a need to identify and support only those with proven success records.
In a recent report, the FG earlier gave a fresh condition to licence new modular refineries.
Senate Threatens NNPC’s Kyari With Sack, Jail Term as Refineries Fail to Work After Gulping N12trn
It was reported that the Senate has threatened to sack and jail the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, and other top executive officers of petroleum subsidiaries.
The lawmakers stated this after highlighting that from 2010 till date, over N12 trillion has been spent on Nigerian refineries’ Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) projects, yet none of the refineries is working.
The Senators were further infuriated by the failure of Kyari and other chief executive officers of the petrol subsidiaries to make themselves available at an interactive session organized by the panel to discuss the TAM.
