The Nigeria government has refuted rumor hovering around the energy sector that it has revoked 32 refinery licenses issued to some investors in country.

The reaction follows reports making the rounds in some section of the media that the government has revoked some refinery licenses that it had earlier issued within a period of 3 years.

This clarification was made by Mr.Paul Osu, the Head, Public Affairs of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), via statement made by on behalf of the agency on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, in Lagos

 According to Mr. Paul Osu; “Our attention has been drawn to a report in some publications stating that DPR has revoked 32 refinery licences issued to private companies in Nigeria.

We wish to clarify that DPR did not revoke any refinery licence. Refinery licence like our other regulatory instruments has validity periods for investors to attain certain milestones.”

“This implies that after the validity period for the particular milestone, the licence becomes inactive until the company reapplies for revalidation to migrate to another milestone.This does not in any way translate to revocation of licence of the company,” He stated

He further said that DPR is always in line with the aspirations of government that initiated the refinery revolution programme of which is aimed at boosting local refining capacity by enabling business environment and   creating new opportunities for investors with the granting of modular and conventional refinery licenses.

“DPR will continue to provide support to investors in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria using our regulatory instruments of licences, permits and approvals to stimulate the economy and align with governments’ job creation initiatives,” Mr. Osu concluded.