据能源经济1月7日消息称，据7位知情人士透露，尼日利亚国家石油公司(NNPC)正与贸易公司进行谈判，以筹集约10亿美元的预付款，整修其在哈科特港(Port Harcourt)的最大炼油设施。

如果资金到位，那么该炼油厂迟来已久的修复工作将减少尼日利亚巨额的燃料进口账单。

这也将标志着尼日利亚自COVID-19大流行以来第二次获得石油支持的融资，这加大了寻找投资者的难度，因为封锁降低了燃料需求，而可再生能源正在取代化石燃料。

消息人士称，一旦翻修完成，这笔钱将在7年内通过从炼油厂交付尼日利亚原油和产品进行偿还。总部位于开罗的Afreximbank牵头进行融资。

该行发言人说：“Afreximbank正在研究哈科特港炼油厂的翻新设施。但是，借款人尚未确定。”

NNPC拒绝置评。消息人士称，正在与一系列外国和尼日利亚贸易公司进行讨论，其中包括一些此前曾与尼日利亚合作的公司，这些公司要求匿名。

尼日利亚是非洲人口最多的国家，拥有4家炼油厂，总产能为44.5万桶/天:一家位于北部卡杜纳，三家位于石油丰富的尼日尔三角洲地区，分别位于瓦里和哈考特港。哈科特港工厂由两座工厂组成，总产能为21万桶/天。

2019年，炼油厂损失了约1670亿奈拉(4.3947亿美元)，只有Warri加工过石油。2020年4月，他们全部关闭以待维修。

经过一年多的谈判，NNPC在2019年放弃了与石油贸易商、生产商和工程公司合作资助炼油厂改造的类似尝试，称将自己资助项目。

这些几乎无法运转的工厂让尼日利亚完全依赖进口，而补贴计划也让该国损失了数十亿美元。尼日利亚表示已经取消了补贴，但该国的NNPC实际上是唯一的汽油进口商，每天要用30万桶石油来换取燃料。

朱佳妮 摘译自 能源经济

原文如下：

Nigeria's NNPC seeks $1 billion oil prepay to revamp Port Harcourt refinery

Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC is in talks to raise around $1 billion in a prepayment with trading firms to refurbish its largest refining complex at Port Harcourt, seven sources familiar with the discussions said.

If the financing is concluded, the long overdue rehabilitation of the refinery should reduce Nigeria's hefty fuel import bill.

It would also mark Nigeria's second oil-backed financing since the COVID-19 pandemic that has added to the difficulty of finding investors as fuel demand is sapped by lockdowns and renewable energy is gaining ground over fossil fuels.

The money would be repaid over seven years through deliveries of Nigerian crude and products from the refinery once the refurbishment is complete, the sources said. Cairo-based Afreximbank is leading the financing.

"Afreximbank is looking into a facility for the refurbishment of the Port Harcourt Refinery. However, the borrower is yet to be determined," a spokesman for the bank said.

NNPC declined to comment. The sources said discussions were taking place with a range of foreign and Nigerian trading houses, including some who have previously worked with Nigeria, and who asked not to be named.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has four refineries with a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day (bpd): one in the north at Kaduna and three in the oil-rich Niger delta region at Warri and Port Harcourt. The Port Harcourt complex consists of two plants with a combined capacity of 210,000 bpd.

In 2019, the refineries lost some 167 billion naira ($439.47 million), and only Warri processed any oil. In April 2020, they were all shut pending rehabilitation.

NNPC abandoned a similar attempt in 2019 to partner with oil traders, producers and engineering firms to fund refinery revamps after more than a year of talks, saying it would fund the projects itself.

The barely functional plants leave Nigeria completely dependent on imports, and subsidy schemes also cost the country billions of dollars. Nigeria says it eliminated subsidies, but the state's NNPC is effectively the sole gasoline importer, using some 300,000 barrels per day of oil to swap for fuel.