Biography
Mr. Momoh Jimah Oyarekhua is Chairman of the Crude Oil Refinery-Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN), the industry group for crude oil refinery owners in Nigeria, and Chairman of OPAC Refineries, which operates a modular refinery at Umuseti, Kwale, in Delta State. Through CORAN, he represents domestic refiners in national discussions on crude oil supply, financing and infrastructure as Nigeria seeks to meet more of its fuel needs from local production.
A mechanical engineering graduate, Oyarekhua has completed executive programmes at Harvard Business School with a focus on oil and gas entrepreneurship. He founded OMSA Integrated Services Limited, a bunker fuel supply, petroleum products trading and marine logistics company, and has worked for more than 25 years in Nigeria’s oil and gas services, petroleum products and bunker fuel sectors. In 2017, he led OMSA’s investment in OPAC Refineries, whose 10,000 barrels per day plant produced its first diesel, kerosene, fuel oil and naphtha in September 2021.
Oyarekhua is Vice President of the Bunker Traders Association of Nigeria (BTAN) and Chairman of Ruta Exploration and Production Company, and he is a member of the Institute of Directors (Nigeria). In 2025, he was appointed to the Africa Regional Board of the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA).
As CORAN chairman, he calls for reliable crude oil feedstock for local refineries, access to crude oil in naira, long-term refinery financing and public investment in pipelines, storage and rail infrastructure. In a 2026 position paper, CORAN urged the federal government to convene a Presidential Refining Industry Roundtable. He also sees the African Continental Free Trade Area as a way to harmonise standards and encourage cross-border investment in refining across Africa.
Career Highlights
- Chairman of the Crude Oil Refinery-Owners Association of Nigeria (CORAN)
- Chairman of OPAC Refineries, a 10,000 barrels per day modular refinery in Kwale, Delta State
- Led OMSA Integrated Services’ 2017 investment in OPAC Refineries, which produced its first refined products in 2021
- Vice President of the Bunker Traders Association of Nigeria (BTAN)
- Appointed to the International Bunker Industry Association (IBIA) Africa Regional Board in 2025
On the AETC Stage
“Local content is important, but let’s make it an African local content. Let’s not have barriers where Ghanaian local content is different from Nigerian local content. If a government projects money for renewables, you find out that billions leave Africa to buy panels elsewhere because we aren’t building capacity and manufacturing locally.”
