Nigeria moves to revamp refineries, end oil-for-fuel swaps

 

Nigeria aims to end the country’s so-called oil-for-fuel swaps system in the near future and rely instead on oil products from local refineries, which it hopes to have running again by 2023, the head of Nigeria’s national oil company NNPC said on Tuesday.

The oil-for-swap deals, in operation since 2016, provide virtually all Nigeria’s gasoline and some of the diesel and jet fuel. NNPC exchanges around 300,000 barrels per day of oil for the imported fuels.

While NNPC has refineries with a combined nameplate capacity of 445,000 barrels per day, decades without regular maintenance or investment leaves the oil-exporting country almost wholly reliant on imports for refined products. Nigeria closed its ailing oil refineries in April until they can be fixed.