Katsina to establish black oil refinery

The Katsina state government says it will establish a black oil refinery in the state as part of its industrialisation agenda.

Abubakar Yusuf, the state commissioner for commerce, industry and tourism, said this on Sunday during the inauguration of PVC and vinyl tube production lines at Kankia metal works in the state.

He said the refinery, which will be located in Mashi local government area, is targeted at reducing poverty and improving the living standard of the people.

He also the state has already approved the requested hectares of land where the refinery will be built.

The commissioner added that the government has also approved a piece of land for the establishment of a meat processing factory in Mai’adua local government area.

According to him, the factory would operate on complete value chain as well as forward and backward production integration system.

While stating that the Kaolin factory in Kankara local government area would start operation in 2018, commissioner also said the state “has the capacity to excavate kaolin of high quality for domestic consumption and export”.

Yusuf noted that the state was blessed with both human and other resources to attain “desired sustainable development in the areas of agriculture, mining, manufacturing, construction and general commercial undertakings”.

He said the industrialisation agenda of the present administration would help in “job, income and wealth creation, boost internally generated revenue (IGR), as well as improving foreign exchange earnings for the state.”