The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has advised the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to discontinue the operation of the Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and Warri refineries.

This announcement came as Lokpobiri urged the NNPCL to acquire a larger equity stake in Dangote Refinery.

Lokpobiri disclosed this on Tuesday at the ongoing Crude Oil Refinery-Owners Association of Nigeria Summit in Lagos.

Represented by Dangana Tende, Deputy Director of Upstream at the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Lokpobiri declared that the government would ensure that deregulation is implemented 100 percent.

“We urge the state oil company to take equity in the other upcoming refineries rather than running refineries. We would ensure that downstream deregulation is 100 percent,” he said.

This development comes as Nigeria’s four refineries, with a cumulative capacity of 445,000 barrels of crude oil daily, have remained moribund for the last 24 years despite huge investments in turnaround maintenance.

The NNPCL had announced several deadlines to kick off petroleum products production at the Port Harcourt Refinery, but none has materialized.

Meanwhile, Dangote has announced that NNPCL has only a 7.2 percent stake in the Dangote refinery.

Dangote Refinery began Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) distribution on September 15, 2024, with NNPCL as the sole off-taker

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