Nigeria's 4 refineries to produce 10m litres of PMS daily

Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Pertroleum

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, said the nation's refineries are now poised to produce at least 10 million litres of Premier Motor Spirit (PMS) per day.

He made this disclosure during an official visit on Sunday to the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company. He said the purpose of his visit was to ascertain the state of the refinery and identify areas of challenges for the workers. He added that a lot of progress in providing fuel to various part of the country as long queues were gradually disappearing from filling stations. 

He commended the management of the refinery for keeping the refinery functional for more than a week but stated that there was still room for improvement so as to increase the current production level of the refinery from 1.5 million litres to two to three litres daily. 

He assured that the administration was committed to ensuring adequate supply of petroleum products across the country. 

Nigeria to reduce price of petrol from January 1, 2016

The Nigerian government has announced that the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) would be reduced to N85 per litre from January 1. The Minister of State for Petroleum and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu broke the news to journalists at the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC), during inspection of the plant on Christmas day.
He added that he approved the new prices for the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulation Agency (PPPRA) on Thursday. When asked when the new prices will become effective, Kachikwu said "like I said, we have done a modulation calculation and it is showing us below N87. I imagine that if PPPRA publishes it today, it will become effective immediately. But the 1st of January that is when we are looking at."
He noted that the government's analysis and research had made the government realize that the country can fluctuate the fuel market in accordance with the crude oil market fundamentals.
 He also stated that the government was scrapping the Petroleum Support Fund also known as oil subsidy and explained that  government can no longer afford to subsidize the product following the fraud that has characterized its operation and pointed out that it was clear that government’s earnings are dipping daily. 
The minister added, “So for the first time people will understand that the pricing modulation I was talking about is not a gimmick. It is for real. We have gone to find out how we will be able fluctuate this market to reflect what the reality of crude market is. The objective is that one, we cannot afford to continue to subsidize.”
 He added, “We can't even understand where those subsidies were going to. There is a lot of fraud elements in it so we need to cut that of. The second is the earning capacity of the Federal Government is deteriorating by the day with lower prices of crude and come out more."
Kachikwu said: "But in applying that where we landed when we did the analysis for the very first time was about N85 or N86 so it is below N87.
And maybe the first price that will come will reflect it. That was why Mr. President said that prices will be N87 for now. And that is what we have in mind."
He also talked about the security of the pipelines and said the government had engaged some private contractors because the use of military intervention had failed to prevent the menace. He said from the briefing he got from the inspection of the refineries, they are close to re-opening and production will begin in the next one week. He expects about 5.5 million litres daily of PMS in the next few days and AGO, Kerosene and other petroleum products will be available from the facility. He added that a holistic repair of the refinery will take place next year to eradicate the minor faults that come up.