The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu has disclosed that the Federal Government would collaborate with Saudi Arabia to revamp Nigeria’s refineries.
The refineries that would be affected by the revamp, according to Kachikwu are the refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.
While speaking at the Abuja headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Kachikwu made known that Nigeria was currently tapping from the vast experience of Saudi Arabia.
The Minister maintained that both countries would take strong business decisions on the matter in due course.
It was reported that Saudi Energy Minister, Khalid al-Falih, flew to Abuja to meet with his Nigerian counterpart, Kachikwu, ahead of two very important OPEC meetings scheduled to hold in just a matter of days.
al-Falih, who did most of the talking during the brief meeting, admitted that the global oil market has been through a volatile period since the past three weeks; a situation he said was amplified by geopolitical tensions and the speculative activities of financial investors.
These events have led to a drastic decline in crude prices, with Brent Crude currently hovering between $59 and $60 per barrel. This is quite less compared to what obtained in September for instance, when speculations were rife that price would reach the $100 range.
With this in view, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), of which both Nigeria and Saudi Arabia belong, has been considering the best way to stabilise the market.
The Saudi Minister said his visit to Nigeria today is highly imperative because Nigeria is an important player in the global oil market.
With that in mind, therefore, his meeting with Ibe Kachukwu is a consultation ahead of OPEC’s meetings scheduled for November 30th at the G20 in Vienna, and yet another OPEC meeting scheduled for December 6th.
