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Nigeria’s NNPC Will Partner With Saudi Aramco to Revamp Refineries, Buhari Says

Nigeria’s NNPC Will Partner With Saudi Aramco to Revamp Refineries, Buhari Says

(Bloomberg) --

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. and Saudi Aramco will collaborate in revamping refineries in Africa’s top crude producer and other energy investments.

Buhari, who is currently in Saudi Arabia for the Future Investment Initiative, met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, chairman of Aramco and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in the capital, Riyadh, to discuss areas of cooperation, Nigerian presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said Wednesday in an emailed statement.

Buhari directed officials of the petroleum ministry and the state oil company to work with the Saudis to “expedite the modalities for investments and collaborations,” according to the statement. Both countries are OPEC members.

The NNPC operates four refineries that have long run at a fraction of their capacity. The newest is almost four decades old. Nigeria imports more than 90% of products like gasoline and diesel, swapping its prized export -- crude -- for petroleum products that people need in their everyday lives.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dulue Mbachu in Abuja at dmbachu@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Liezel Hill

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