2010-07-06 14:03

Nigeria and China have signed an agreement to build the West African nation's biggest oil refinery at a cost of $8 billion, ThisDay reported, without saying where it got the information.

The 300,000 barrel-a-day refinery will be located in the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos state, according to the report. China State Construction Engineering Corp will take up 80 percent of the project funding, while government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp will be responsible for the rest, the Lagos-based newspaper said.

Nigeria's four existing refineries have a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels a day. As they are unable to operate at full production because of ageing equipment and poor maintenance, Africa's largest crude oil producer has to depend on imports to meet its oil-product needs.

Chinese investors will hold a stake of at least 25 percent in the refinery, ThisDay said, citing Billy Agha, Nigerian National's executive director in charge of engineering and technology. Calls to China State Construction's press office for comment went unanswered.