The Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited has been granted operational license to commence production of refined petroleum products.
This was confirmed Tuesday when the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority presented the license to the Edo refinery situated at Ologbo, near Benin City.
NMDPRA Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Farouk, said the regulatory agency will give the Edo Refinery all the necessary support to carry out its functions.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Edo Refinery Head, Technical Operations, Segun Okeni said the company will strive to make its contributions to the advancement of the oil industry in Nigeria.
“It starts from License to Establish (LTE), Licence to Construct (LTC), Approval to introduce Hydrocarbon, pre-commissioning and commissioning, operate the refinery for some time to ensure it has the capacity to do so and finally the Licence to Operate LTO.”
Okeni revealed that the refinery is finalising arrangements with an indigenous oil company to access crude oil for optimal production capacity.
“We are finalising a major crude supply agreement with an indigenous oil company. Although the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and NMDPRA have been supportive, but once we find a source of crude, they will normally give us urgent approval.
“However, with this licencing, NUPRC ought to consider existing local refineries in the bidding round for marginal field”, he said.
