India to set up oil refineries in Nigeria

Dubai, Feb 3: India has joined the race to set up oil refineries in Nigeria, where companies from Venezuela and Iran are pursuing deals to build two refineries costing at least six billion dollars.

Nigerian Oil Minister Edmund Daukoru has said oil majors such as Total, Shell and Chevron are also in talks to build refineries with a capacity of around 2,00,000 barrels each.

He said investors' concern is the price caps on oil product in Nigeria, which is also interested in setting up production facilities to convert cassava, a root vegetable that is staple food, into ethanol, a report in Tehran Times said.

Daukoru said India, which has already been looking at other energy investments in the West African nation, is also seeking possibility of taking stakes in the refineries.

''We're hoping to have a decision by the end of the year (on who will build the refineries and when), but it depends on how we resolve the domestic situation (with price caps),'' he said.

Daukoru said he expected to announce in coming weeks a formal date for the country's next bidding round on oil exploration that will involve at least 20 onshore and offshore blocks.

In January, Nigeria planned a bidding round involving up to 60 oil blocks and also said talks were underway with India's state-run NTPC Ltd on a deal involving a new power plant and Nigerian supplies of liquefied natural gas to India.

Nigeria's oil production in January averaged 2.1 million barrels a day, down from December, Daukoru said adding that it produced about 2.25 million barrels per day in December.

UNI