Helix Oil of Greece to build $6bn refinery in Nigeria

Martin Ayankola, Lagos - 24.12.2007

Helix Oil International, Greece, in conjunction with Visor Capital and the Barrington Group of the United States, is planning to spend $6 billion on the construction of a 300,000 barrels per day refinery in Nigeria.

Already, in fulfillment of the local content requirements for the project, a company, Helix Oil International Nigeria Limited, has been incorporated by promoters of the project as the special purpose vehicle for the project.

Nigerian Tribune gathered at the weekend that as a way of concretising arrangements about the project, the investors would visit Nigeria early next year to hold discussions with government officials and regulatory authorities.

Managing Director of Helix Oil International Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Ronald Enang, said the company had already commenced the process of getting approval for the establishment of the refinery from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).

It will be recalled that government had been making efforts to attract investors to construct refineries in the country.

Nigeria currently has four refineries with a total refining capacity of 445,000 barrels per day.

However, the refineries have not been operating due to several factors and even at full capacity, they cannot meet domestic demand for petroleum products.

The Federal Government has been using several incentives to attract investors into the midstream subsector of the oil industry and these include granting Investors Right of First Refusal on oil blocks if they commit to build a refinery or a power station.