The Group Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, has said Nigeria will be a net exporter of refined petroleum products by December this year, based on emerging indicators in the oil and gas sector.
Kyari stated this on Monday at the National Assembly when economic stakeholders, including the Ministers of Finance, Wale Edun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu; Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri; and the Governor of the Central Bank, Olayemi Cardoso, met with the Senate Committee on Finance led by Senator Sani Musa of Niger East.
The emerging indicators, according to Kyari, are the Port Harcourt refinery, which he said would start production early next month, followed by the one in Warri months later, and the Kaduna refinery, latest by December this year.
He added that in a few months, the oil production level for the country would hit 2 million barrels per day, as all the enablements towards that had already been put in place.
He said, “Mr Chairman and members of the joint committee, let me just confirm that NNPCL and the oil and gas industry are very critical in bringing about a turnaround in our current economic situation, and we understand the importance of this. We are taking every step that is practical for us to achieve this.
“We have already seen growth in our oil and gas production because of certain actions that Mr President personally took, and the very mere truth that we have also declared war on production activities, and this is yielding the required results.
“The combination of these two has now seen us restoring production in our country, and we believe that, as the Honorable Minister has said, we will soon hit the target of 2 million barrels of oil production per day.”
According to Kyari, there are several comments in the public space around the refining business and domestic production, including production that will come from the commissioned Dangote refinery.
“Yes, this country, as we have said, will be a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of this year.
“We’re very optimistic that by December, this country will be a net exporter. That means a combination of production coming from us, and also from the Dangote refinery and other smaller producing companies that we know are in line to do this. So, I can confirm to you that by the end of the year, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum products.”
On the government refineries, he mentioned, “We have spoken to a number of your committees, and it is impossible to have the Kaduna refinery come into operation before December, it will get to December, both Warri and Kaduna; but that of Port Harcourt will commence production early in August this year.”
In his submission, the CBN Governor, represented by the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy, Muhammad Abdullahi, said the triple challenges of rising inflation, foreign exchange rate fluctuations and food inflation, would take a downward trend soon.
Earlier in his submission, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Bagudu, stated that the 2024 budget was already being implemented.
He added that there was an ongoing negotiation with labour leaders on minimum wage to ensure there was no further disruption to the economy.
In his remarks, the chairman of the committee appealed to Nigerians to persevere as the government was working around the clock to stabilise the economy.
