Twenty of the 43 licences granted by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to set up private refineries in Nigeria have expired without going beyond the initial level of Licence to Establish (LTE), The Guardian reports.

Another seven of these licences will expire between July and August, bringing the total to 28, which had been idle for three years, while their validity is two years. This was contained in a report by DPR on Licensed Refineries in Nigeria as at 31st January 2018 released recently. However, the 5,000 barrels per day (BPD) capacity Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited, located in Ibigwe, Imo State, has gone beyond LTE to approval to construct (ATC).

Clairgold Oil and Gas Engineering Limited, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources, and Dee Jones, have also advanced to the level of construction. The report revealed that the 500,000 bpd Dangote Oil Refinery Company located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Lagos, has been granted Detailed Engineering Design Approval by the industry regulator. Similarly, the 24,000bpd Kaiji Resources Limited refinery in Oguta, Imo State has also been granted Front End Engineering Design Approval.