An estimated 7,000 jobs will be created in Nigeria's southern Bayelsa State when a refinery is built there in a joint project with China, state oil officials said last Thursday.

State-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said in a statement that the Bayelsa refinery is one of three to be built across the country with a total installed capacity of 750,000 barrels per day.

The three 'Greenfield Refineries' will be located in Bayelsa, the commercial capital Lagos and central Kogi state.

"An estimated 7,000 job opportunities would be up for grabs courtesy of the planned construction and operation of a Greenfield Refinery in Bayelsa State by the NNPC, in partnership with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC)," the statement said.

The lack of employment is often cited as one of the main causes of armed militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Two months ago, the NNPC signed an agreement with CSCEC to jointly seek debt financing from Chinese banks for the funding and construction of the three refineries and one petrochemical plant at a cost of $23 billion in one of Africa's biggest tie-ups with China.

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