ABUJA – Minister of State for Pe­troleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, on Monday said the rehabilitation of the 60,000bpd (barrels per day) Port Harcourt Refinery would be completed by first quarter of 2023 and the facility would begin operations.

Sylva, who stated this during President Muham­madu Buhari administra­tion’s scorecard 2015-2023 organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture, also declared that petroleum price should be market-driven as subsidising petroleum prod­ucts is no longer sustainable.

He said the importers of petroleum products are man­dated to sell at a loss under the subsidy arrangements.

“The management of the supply situation under this subsidy regime is not easy. We must all agree, so much money is being burnt on our cars. But somehow we have sought funds in order to keep the country wet. Sometimes, if you really think deeply, you begin to wonder what magic they are doing to even be able to keep this country wet, considering that you buy something, let’s say for N10 and you are to sell it at a loss. And then you are expected to go back and buy the same thing and come back and sell at a loss. So that every point in time you are looking for more money to continue to buy it because you are man­dated to sell it at a loss. If you are a business man, look at it from that perspective that you are in a business where you are mandated to sell at a loss to the population”, he said.

Sylva insisted that Nige­ria is not doing too badly in terms of petroleum pump price when compared to other countries like Saudi Arabia, United States and the United Kingdom.

According to the minister, the Buhari administration, through strategic planning, was able to provide support and partnerships to increase oil production and enhance local refining.

To this end, he said a time­ly review and approvals of requests related to the refur­bishment of local refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna, combined capacity of 80,000 barrels per day (bpd) modular refining capacity en­abled so far in Imo, Bayelsa and Edo states.

The government also launched $500 million NC R&D Fund and Oloibiri Mu­seum and Research Centre in support of enhanced oil recovery while partnering with the private sector.

Sylva recalled that Pres­ident Buhari in November 2022, commissioned 5,000bpd Waltersmith Modular Refin­ery which now produces au­tomotive gas oil (AGO), dual purpose kerosene (DKP) and high pour fuel oil (HPFO), adding that the phase 2 of the project will add another 15,000pd.

He said the Ministry of Petroleum Resources made significant contribution in support of President Buhari’s target to lift 100 million Nige­rians out of poverty.

According to him, the min­istry achieved this through “jobs creation via the develop­ment of the oil and gas indus­trial parks for manufacturing, stressing that at full opera­tion, 2,000 job opportunities are expected per park.

“The size of the Nigerian Content Intervention Fund in­creased from $200 million to $350 million. Additional prod­ucts on working capital and business support for women in oil and gas introduced. Hu­man capacity development to enhance employability and incubate entrepreneurs. Interventions in vocational education, STEM education HACKATHON, ENACTUS In­novation Challenge, ICT labs, etc. Over 13 million training man-hours achieved”.