Nigeria seeks partners to revive ailing refineries

LAGOS, April 19 (Reuters) -- Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC has launched bidding to find partners to overhaul its ailing refineries, it said in a tender published on Tuesday.

Africa's top oil producer has been trying to restart its refineries, which hardly produce any petrol due to decades of mismanagement and widespread graft. Motorists have been queuing for fuel for months across Nigeria.

Last month, NNPC head Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said the firm was in talks with Chevron, France's Total and Italy's Eni to revamp the refineries but would also launch a separate tender in order to attract a maximum number of bids.

NNPC is seeking partners for joint ventures to "fund, rehabilitate and jointly" operate the 210,000-bpd Port Harcourt refinery, the 110,000-bpd Kaduna refinery and the 125,000-bpd Warri refinery, according to the tender which was published in newspapers.

Bidding will end on May 30.

Investors would be paid from proceeds from the sale of refined products, the tender said.

The revamp is part of reforms started by President Muhammadu Buhari Kachikwu last year to overhaul NNPC, whose opaque structures have allowed corruption and oil theft to flourish.

In February, Kachikwu told Reuters that NNPC was also in talks with oil companies and banks to raise capital for new drilling and to repay its debt.