An oil and gas expert, Atayero Olusegun Aderemi, has said modular refineries can only solve the present needs of Nigeria if they are fuel-based as against the by-products-based interest of the investors.
Atayero, who is the managing director of Autofit and Energy, said investors were only opting for refineries that would refine 30 per fuel and devote the remaining 70 per cent to other by-products of crude oil, saying such could not tackle the recurrent fuel scarcity in the country.
The oil and gas expert, spoke at Aramoko Ekiti on Thursday, shortly after the third edition of his yearly fellowship with widows in the ancient community. No fewer than 70 widows in attendance received food items and clothing.
He said: “Because of the problem of inadequate fuel supply, the Federal Government had tried to bring in some private investors in what they referred to as modular refinery. But that has not worked because of the design of the modular refineries which is against the country’s demand. The design is in such a way that 70 per cent is for after product while 30 per cent is for fuel.
“But you know, the challenge in Nigeria is fuel. So, if there is any businessman who is willing to offer 70 per cent fuel, I am sure the government would jump at it. Government would also be ready to provide crude oil.
“The reason people don’t like to bring in modular refinery for fuel is that fuel is just a small component. In one barrel of crude oil, you can have over 100 by-products. For instance, all these petrochemical industries use the by-products from refineries.
“Some of the cloths we wear are part of it. So fuel is giving them little money compared to other by-products. As it is now, Nigeria would get to a stage where it won’t need fuel any longer because we are just wasting our fuel. India had stopped using her crude oil for fuel. What India is saying now is that her cars would not use fuel because fuel is waste of crude oil. So, Nigeria is losing a lot for using fuel,” he said.
Atayero, who expressed regret that Nigerians had to go through needless suffering occasioned by inadequate fuel supply, advised that the government should be proactive to forestall future reoccurrence of fuel scarcity.
He said: “What I would suggest to the Federal Government is that fuel scarcity is fast becoming an annual problem, the government must plan ahead so that when we are approaching August, the government should ensure that the market is flooded with the product.
Atayero also stressed that the Muhammadu Buhari led government could not afford considering an upward review of pump prices at present in the face of current hardship, saying: “If anything like that is going to happen, it will take some time. The rumour making the rounds that petrol would go as high as N185 per litre is a blatant lie.
“I am quite aware that some marketers have begun to hoard products based on this false information. This government is being careful because it castigated the previous administration that it made upward review of fuel prices every year”, he said.
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