The Department of Petroleum Resources has said it is willing to license more modular refineries to come on stream, saying it would put an end to the problem of product scarcity in the country.

The Director, Chief Executive Officer of DPR, Mr Sarki Auwalu, stated this while speaking to journalists after a tour of facilities at the Niger Delta Petroleum Resources, an indigenous oil and gas company in Ahoada, Rivers State.

Auwalu said rather than going into illegal refining for lack of capacity to do proper refining, private concerns should consider setting up modular refineries, noting that the agency was ready to support such genuine initiatives.

He said, “DPR is a business enabler and opportunity provider. We create the business of oil and gas and ensure that it is sustained.

“I am calling on Nigerians to come invest in this sector, bring more.

The sector has been the risk and if you’re afraid that you can’t refine, don’t go and do illegal refinery. Come and do legal refining and we are ready to give you licence.

While 44 refinery licences have been given to private investors over the years, only a few projects are underway.

According to the DPR, there are a total of 38 proposed modular refineries with capacity ranging from 5,000 barrels per day to 30,000bpd, and six conventional plants with a total capacity of 1.35 million bpd.

Last year, the 5,000bpd modular refinery built by Waltersmith Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited in Imo was inaugurated.