Vulcan, an affiliate of New York-based private equity firm Vulcan Capital Corp, aimed to have two of the refineries finished in under a year, they said. Nigeria is Africa's top crude oil producer but its refineries are in such a state of disrepair that they meet only a fraction of its domestic fuel needs. Its crude is shipped out and costly refined products imported.
"The project is estimated to gulp 697.5bn naira ($4.5 billion), while two of the refineries are expected to be completed within the next 12 months," Yemi Kolapo, spokeswoman for the trade ministry, said in a statement. "Each modular refinery, when completed, will refine up to 30,000 barrels of crude oil per day and produce up to five million litres of petrol, diesel, kerosene and LPFO (liquid petroleum fuel oil)."
