Nigeria is set to commence work this quarter on a complete overhaul of its Port Harcourt oil refinery, which has been shuttered since March 2019.

S&P Global reports that the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is ready to start the commercial stage of prequalifying bids for the engineering, procurement and construction contract. Seven bids, both international and local, had been received by December 2020.

The project at Port Harcourt, the country’s biggest refinery, will be followed by repair work at the Warri and Kaduna refineries, which have been closed since December 2019.

The projects are expected to last for 18 months to two years.

The work can begin now that Nigeria has secured a US$1 billion loan following negotiations driven by the African Export-Import Bank.

2 March 2021
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