The Federal Government has given reason for pushing for a stake in the yet to be completed Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical company.
The government is angling for 20 per cent equity in the Dangote Refinery which has the capacity to produce 650,000 bpd per day.
Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Melee Kyari, who spoke Tuesday when he featured in Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ programme monitored by NewsSpecng, cited energy security as the reason for the interest.
Kyari was of the opinion that it would be suicidal for any country not to have a say in such a magnificent project.
NNPC Group Managing Director however said the move seems not to please Aliko Dangote, saying he does not want to sell shares in his refinery and petrochemical project under construction in the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos, Nigeria.
Kyari explained that it is important that the NNPC, as the national oil company, guarantee energy security for the country by “having a say in the board of the refinery”.
He said, “Dangote refinery will come to work, by 2022, it should come into production and what that should do is to deliver over 50 million litres of gasoline, to be specific, into our market.
“We are also working on our refineries to make sure we fix them; we have awarded the Port Harcourt refinery rehabilitation and ultimately we are close to that of Warri and Kaduna, so that very soon, in July, all of them will work contemporaneously and at the end of the day, we will deliver all of them.
“The net effect is that you are going to have an environment where Nigeria becomes a hub for petroleum supply. It is going to change the dynamics of petroleum supply, even globally, in the sense that the flow is coming from Europe today and it is going to be reversed to some other direction. We will be the supplier for West Africa legitimately and also many other parts of the world.
“The meaning of this is that there is an opportunity thrown at us and I am not sure that Mr Dangote wants to sell his equity in the refinery. I can confirm that it was at our instant that we started the engagement; he did not want to sell his shares in this refinery.
“There is no country that would watch a business of this scale, which is bordering on energy security, which also has high implication even on the physical security of our country and you watch it that you don’t have a say.
“For us as a strategy, we will take equity in very significant businesses that are anchored on the oil and gas operations – fertilizer, methanol plants, modular refineries and so many other businesses that we are dealing with so that we can expand our portfolio but also as the national oil company, we have the responsibility to guarantee energy security for our country and there is nowhere you can have that say except you have a say in the board of this institution.”
“I am not sure Mr Dangote is very happy with this. We are taking 20 per cent equity of the Dangote Refinery. There is a valuation process, it is very international and very regulated. No bank will give you money to buy a stake,” he added.
Kyari further said that the NNPC is seeking the authority of the Federal Executive Council to close the deal which he said is worth about $19bn.
“We are not going to take government money to buy it, we are going to borrow because we know that this business is viable in the short term
Banks have come forward to lend us.
“We are very proud that we did this, this is good for our shareholders including all the 200 million Nigerians who will also be happily buying shares from this refinery if they have an opportunity but now we have done that on their behalf so that ultimately, the value will come to all of us.”
