Nigeria lists 5 Asian groups for refinery sale

LAGOS – Nigeria has shortlisted five Asian-led consortiums and three others for a majority stake in its 210 000 barrels per day (bpd) oil refinery complex, the privatisation agency said on Tuesday.

Attempts to privatise the Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd (PHRC) have suffered a series of setbacks since 2002 as the plant, in Africa’s oil heartland the Niger Delta, failed to attract enough international interest. The Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) said the new suitors are India’s Mittal Investments, Essar and Global Oil and Energy, Indonesia’s Indorama and Chinese-led Linkglobal International.A consortium led by Switzerland’s Refinee Petroplus and Nigeria’s leading fuel retailer Oando Plc and Bluestar Oil services, a unit of top industrial conglomerate Transcorp, also made the shortlist.”The firms are currently conducting due diligence and site visits of the PHRC facilities,” the BPE said in a statement.The privatisation agency had suspended a previous attempt to sell 51 per cent or more of government equity in the refinery in March 2006, citing multiple membership in bidding consortiums.The four companies that were pre-qualified for the botched sale were asked to revise their bids when the privatisation process was restarted in December.They all made the new list.The PHRC comprises two refineries – the 60 000 bpd Eleme plant, which first started production in 1965 and was rebuilt in 1985 after it was largely destroyed by fire, and the 150 000 bpd Port Harcourt II plant that was originally designed for export and came on stream in 1988.The plants need huge investment to become fully operational and meet international environmental standards, according to industry analysts.Privatisations are among a batch of free-market economic reforms being carried out by President Olusegun Obasanjo, who must step down after landmark elections in the world’s eighth biggest oil exporter next month.The International Monetary Fund has said the pace of the programme is too slow.Nampa-ReutersThe Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE) said the new suitors are India’s Mittal Investments, Essar and Global Oil and Energy, Indonesia’s Indorama and Chinese-led Linkglobal International.A consortium led by Switzerland’s Refinee Petroplus and Nigeria’s leading fuel retailer Oando Plc and Bluestar Oil services, a unit of top industrial conglomerate Transcorp, also made the shortlist.”The firms are currently conducting due diligence and site visits of the PHRC facilities,” the BPE said in a statement.The privatisation agency had suspended a previous attempt to sell 51 per cent or more of government equity in the refinery in March 2006, citing multiple membership in bidding consortiums.The four companies that were pre-qualified for the botched sale were asked to revise their bids when the privatisation process was restarted in December.They all made the new list.The PHRC comprises two refineries – the 60 000 bpd Eleme plant, which first started production in 1965 and was rebuilt in 1985 after it was largely destroyed by fire, and the 150 000 bpd Port Harcourt II plant that was originally designed for export and came on stream in 1988.The plants need huge investment to become fully operational and meet international environmental standards, according to industry analysts.Privatisations are among a batch of free-market economic reforms being carried out by President Olusegun Obasanjo, who must step down after landmark elections in the world’s eighth biggest oil exporter next month.The International Monetary Fund has said the pace of the programme is too slow.Nampa-Reuters