The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is reportedly in talks with investors to borrow $2.5 billion to acquire a stake in the Dangote Refinery.

Reports by Daily Independent, said the state-owned oil firm is discussing with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) for the loan.

“The state-owned corporation’s quest for the loan may have been informed by the need to hasten the completion of the $15 billion facility which is expected to come alive early next year,” the report stated.

At the 2021 edition of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Opportunity Fair (NOGOF), Mustapha Yakubu, NNPC chief operating officer, refining and petrochemicals, said NNPC is in discussion with Dangote Group on acquisition of a 20 percent minority equity stake.

“…I can tell you today that we are seeking to have a 20 per cent minority stake in Dangote Refinery as part of our collaboration and you know that there’s a huge quantity of crude for that refinery,” he had said.

Kenni Obateru, the NNPC spokesperson, told TheCable that the corporation cannot discuss the equity stake and funding sources for now.

“Discussions on the acquisition of equity in private refineries by NNPC are still ongoing, hence, we can’t discuss details about them and sources of funds for now,” he said.Afreximbank is yet to reply to TheCable’s enquiry on the proposed loan request.

The Dangote Refinery, currently under construction in the Lekki Free Zone, Lagos, is expected to be Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the world’s biggest single-train facility upon completion.

https://www.thecable.ng/report-nnpc-mulls-2-5bn-loan-facility-for-stake-in-dangote-refinery/amp
Seun Lalasticlala

This country

NNPC that can't manage 3 moribund refineries for many years even accumulating staggering amount of economic burden as overhead costs without refining any crude oil is talking of acquiring stakes in Dangote Refinery?

"The government-owned refineries, being run by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, reported a total loss of N778.71bn from 2015 to 2019, an analysis of data collated from their financial statements has shown.The refineries generated total revenue of N21.12bn in the five-year period as they operated at below their full capacities..."

https://m.punchng.com/Business/FG-refineries-earn-N21bn-lose-N778bn-in-five-years

This is the same NNPC that is a monumental haven of unimaginable corruption wanting to have a stake and run Dangote refinery more efficiently?

Racoon:
NNPC that can't manage 3 moribund refineries for many years even accumulating staggering amount of economic burden as overhead costs without refining any crude oil is talking of acquiring stakes in Dangote Refinery?

NNPC's refineries are in a bad state because they have not been run profitably since the military era in the name of subsidy.

If you sell fuel below its production price, and pay a subsidy that does not adequately cover the resulting loss due to rising costs....you end up with moribund refineries.

Governments past and present know and have known what to do. Let the market control the price of fuel, not the PPRA. Let marketers make enough of a profit to enable NNPC keep up its refineries and build new ones even. But the political cost of that would be too much. Nigerians would march on the streets, and there would be a lot of anger on the streets.

If Nigeria can give up its love of cheap fuel...we would have working refineries.

Niger sells fuel at nearly N400 per liter. And thus their only refinery is in good working condition, and they can export to other countries. Unlike Nigeria that sells fuel too too cheaply.

Honestly it is simple. Yes, we may pay higher for fuel...but at the end of the day, we would have some working refineries.

Beancounter94:
...
Governments past and present know and have known what to do. Let the market control the price of fuel, not the PPRA. Let marketers make enough of a profit to enable NNPC keep up its refineries and build new ones even.

Honestly it is simple. Yes, we may pay higher for fuel...but at the end of the day, we would have some working refineries.

"A single lie destroys a reputation built over many years." For a budding political party like the then emerging APC, they could have played opposition with caution and wisdom but not in our side of the world.

They totally condemned the subsidy which was of course a major source of economic wastage without any iota of rational thinking even denouncing it as a complete fraud.Had it been they saw reason with the past govt attempt to do away with the subsidy issue, then Nigeria would have been better for it.Govt have no business running refineries.

Fast forward to 5 years later, they are not only secretly paying(cum looting) same, but made it an official policy of government to brazenly lie to Nigerians about same.

However, the unanswered questions remains:
-1).Who approved the subsidy or alleged subsidy under-recovery funds the NNPC have been paying; the NASS or executive decision/fiat?
-2).Why is the price of petrol and other petroleum products still high despite these payments with occasional unavailability of these products.
-3).Why have the Buhari-led government been lying to Nigerians about the subsidy or subsidy under-recovery issue thereby insulting the sensibility of a nation they are governing?