The government of Saudi Arabia on Friday announced plans to invest in the rehabilitation of Nigerian refineries.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia also said it was ready to support Nigeria’s foreign exchange reforms through a substantial deposit aimed at enhancing the country’s forex liquidity.
The commitments were made during a bilateral meeting between the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud, and President Bola Tinubu at the Saudi-Africa Summit in Riyadh.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this in a statement he signed on Friday titled ‘Saudi government to invest in Nigeria’s refineries, support Central Bank reforms.’
The project’s completion is targeted within a two-to-three-year period, promising a significant boost to Nigeria’s refinery capabilities.
Moreover, the Crown Prince acknowledged Nigeria’s role and partnership within OPEC+, expressing gratitude for its consistent support.
On his part, President Tinubu expressed his gratitude for Saudi Arabia’s proposed investments and reform support.
He assured the Saudi leader of Nigeria’s commitment to prudent management and strict oversight of the investments.
The two leaders also agreed to collaborate closely over the next six months to create a detailed road map and blueprint to actualize the agreed investments and initiatives.
President Tinubu and Crown Prince Bin Salman also discussed the critical need to enhance security cooperation.
They beamed their focus on combating terrorism, curbing illegal migration, and addressing other security challenges in West Africa and the Sahel region.
Friday’s bilateral talks also served as an opportunity to explore the expansion of economic and socio-cultural ties between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia.
Both leaders committed to exploring new horizons in Nigeria-Saudi bilateral relations.
High-ranking officials, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar; the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; the Nigerian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Yahaya Lawal; and the state Chief of Protocol, Adekunle Adeleke, were present at the bilateral talks.
The Nigerian government expects its four oil refineries to be operational by the end of 2024, with the Port Harcourt plant to become operable by December 2023.
Despite investing $25 billion in renovating the Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Warri refineries in the past 10 years, the facilities still function below 30 percent of their potential output, a report by the 9th National Assembly shows.
The report called for a forensic audit of these efforts and recommended rehabilitating the Warri and Port Harcourt refineries. It also recommended audits of the Kaduna refinery.
Consequently, the Senate constituted an ad hoc committee to investigate the NNPCL over the N11.35 trillion spent on the turnaround maintenance of the refineries.
The committee was meant to interrogate the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, NNPCL, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and the Bureau of Public Enterprises on the best approach to commercializing and ensuring the profitability of the state-owned refineries.
But addressing State House Correspondents at the end of the 2023 Cabinet Retreat on November 3, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, announced that the responsibility for the timely renovation squarely fell on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
