March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Nigeria will import heavy crude from Venezuela for use in a state-run refinery, The Punch reported, citing Abubakar Yar'Adua, head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.

Nigeria, which pumps light crude, needs heavy crude for the production of lubricants and fuel oil at a refinery in the northern city of Kaduna, the Lagos-based newspaper said. The facility is due to restart next week after a recent upgrade.

The 110,000-barrel-a-day Kaduna refinery is the only facility in the country that handles heavy crude, Punch said.

Nigeria has four refineries that can handle 425,000 barrels of crude oil daily. The facilities currently produce less than their capacity due to years of mismanagement and the sabotage of pipelines by militants in the southern Niger Delta region.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dulue Mbachu in Lagos via Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 7, 2008 06:17 EST