Lagos | Thursday
THE Nigerian government will on Thursday open bidding for potentially lucrative licences to set up and run privately-owned oil refineries in Africa’s largest oil producing country, officials said on Wednesday.
The potential investors, said to include a number of Nigerian and foreign firms, have all paid a non-refundable deposit of $50 000 to be allowed to take part in the bidding.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, produces two million barrels of oil per day.
But for years in the 1990s, the country’s long suffering population went short of fuel as corruption and mismanagement in the four state-owned fuel refineries left the country almost without refined fuel.
Still, today, with the existing four refineries back in operation following months of repairs, Nigeria only produces 18-million litres of fuel daily and has to import seven million litres daily to meet demand.
And that demand is growing with the number of car owners rising as fast as the population.
The market is not easy, however, according to economists and on Wednesday the country’s main trades union group, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) announced plans for a general strike to protest against a recent 15% increase in the official price of fuel.
The official pump price of fuel is set in Nigeria by the government, currently at 26 naira (23 US cents), up from 22 naira last year.
The government is, however, keen to end the costly subsidies that under-pin the low price and to liberalise the market, allowing investors to chose at what price they sell their product.
The price rise is, however, difficult for the average Nigerian who only earns just over $300 a year.
The liberalisation of the fuel market is one of the reforms pledged by the government to international backers including the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. – AFP