Workers in safety gear inspecting Nigeria’s oil refinery equipment ahead of resumption.
Nigeria will resume local crude oil refining in early August, ending years of inactivity at state-owned refineries. According to Mele Kyari, CEO of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Company, one of the two Port Harcourt refineries will begin operations within two weeks, while the second will start by year’s end. Kyari stated that the move, when combined with output from the Dangote refinery and other smaller producers, will make Nigeria a net oil exporter by December. More importantly, it will reduce fuel prices and, by extension, ease the economic crisis the country is currently experiencing. However, analysts are skeptical, especially since past resumption announcements, in December and March, failed due to technical challenges.
SOURCE: VOA