Africa's largest crude oil producer still relies on imported fuel

According to reports, Nigeria, Africa's largest crude oil producer, is currently trying to put its refineries into operation, in an effort to get rid of its dependence on imported fuel. In the past 12 years, Nigeria has tried to start its aging and unprofitable crude oil processing plants four times, but failed. Now NNPC, Nigeria's state-owned energy company, has another chance, if successful, to end Nigeria's dependence on fuel imports. However, the country's recent track record means there is scepticism about its latest efforts. "It may be easier to build a new refinery in Nigeria for those refineries that have not been properly maintained for many years," said cheta navanz, head of research at SBMI intelligence, a Lagos based risk consultancy. The West African country, with a population of 200 million, imports more than 90% of petroleum products such as gasoline and diesel every year, replacing its precious export product, crude oil, with petroleum products that people need in daily life. Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation currently operates four refineries, and their crude oil processing volume has been very low for a long time. The latest refinery is almost 40 years old. By successfully producing its own fuel, Nigeria will no longer rely on traders who ship fuel from tankers thousands of miles away - and all the extra costs that result.