Photo File Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'Adua

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The refineries are located in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt.

A participant, who attended the meeting between the Presidential Steering Committee on the Global Financial Crisis and organised labour on Monday in Abuja, told our correspondent that government was torn between different options.

According to him, government is considering revisiting the privatisation of the refineries, even though President Umaru Yar'Adua had cancelled the sale of the Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries to Blue Star Consortium, led by Alhaji Aliko Dangote, soon after the assumed office in May 2007.

The source added that government was afraid that revisiting the cancellation of the sale could incur the wrath of workers, who perennially oppose privatisation.

Similarly, the NNPC board, which met recently in Abuja, opted to engage in strategic partnership with renowned refining companies, which would run the refineries efficiently.

The suggestions are, however, at variance with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill presently before the National Assembly.

The PIB, prepared by the Oil and Gas Reforms Implementation Committee, proposed that the refineries would still be owned by the new NNPC Limited, which would be free to incorporate its subsidiaries and sell some of its stake to the private sector.

However, the Presidential Steering Committee on the Global Financial Crisis had hinted on the privatisation of the refineries after it announced the withdrawal of subsidy on petroleum products prices.

For many years, the refineries have been allegedly mismanaged, with millions of dollars committed to their turn around maintainace, procurement of spare parts and payment of staff salaries without commensurate value being obtained from the plants.

The committee stated that the Federal Government would no longer inject funds into the refineries.

Minister of Petroleum, Dr. Rilwan Lukman, said, "Our refineries are not being run well, they have been mismanaged."

He added that NNPC would be encouraged to engage in offshore refining.