The Department of Petroleum Resources has said more investors are showing interest in establishing modular refineries in the country following the deregulation of petrol.
The Director, DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, was quoted in a statement as saying this, adding that seven refineries were already at various levels of completion.
“By 2022, Nigeria will become a net exporter of petroleum products because all these refineries under construction will come on-stream.
“We are looking at about 750,000 barrels per day and that is excluding the four refineries owned by the government.”
He said with the government championing the move to convert vehicles to be able to use Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Compressed Natural Gas and Liquefied Natural Gas, only rich individuals would be using petrol to power their cars in two years’ time.
Auwalu said an industry-wide consultation was being facilitated to ensure a smooth and quick transition to cleaner automotive fuel under the government’s autogas policy.
According to him, the Federal Government is committed to ensuring that majority of vehicles in Nigeria are fueled by autogas in the next few years.
He gave the indication during the oversight visit of the House of Representatives Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) to the DPR headquarters in Lagos, the statement said.
Describing gas as a cheaper and cleaner alternative to petrol, he said deepening gas utilisation would mitigate the impact of the recent petrol deregulation.
“Nigerians should have a choice of energy they want to use. That is price freedom. We want motorists to switch to autogas (CNG, LPG, or LNG) because it is cheaper and cleaner than petrol.