Nigeria’s Energy Sector Crisis: Refinery Feed Stock Shortage Threatens Petroleum Production Goals

Nigeria’s Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has expressed concerns about the country’s refineries and modular refineries potentially not receiving enough crude oil for petroleum product production without an increase in the sector.

Lokpobiri expressed this fear publicly at the 2024 sector retreat, which aimed to discuss achieving targets and mandates set by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the ministerial retreat in November 2023. He stated that the first target is to ramp up production, followed by increasing revenue and meeting obligations in mid-stream and upstream sectors.

One challenge he is afraid of is the lack of feed stocks if refineries are not fixed, making it embarrassing to finish Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Warri, Dangote, and BUA without feed stocks. Lokpobiri first raised the issue in November 2023, while responding to questions from State House correspondents at the end of the three-day retreat at the Presidential Villa.

Nigeria’s largest refinery, Dangote, had planned to import crude from the United States in January. Trafigura Group sold 2 million barrels of WTI Midland to Dangote refinery for end-February delivery.