The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) today 30th December 2024 announced the commencement of operations at the 125,000-barrel-per-day Warri Refining & Petrochemicals Company in Delta State. This is coming few weeks after the 60,000-barrel-per-day Port Harcourt Refinery began operations.
TheMediaGood Newspaper gathered that Warri Refinery Area I which began operations today is currently operating at 60% of its capacity. The 125,000 barrels-per-day refinery is already producing Straight Run Kerosene, Automotive Gas Oil, Low Pour Fuel Oil, and Heavy & Light Naphtha.
The NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari explained on an inspection tour of the facility that the company aimed to provide Nigerians with an update on the progress made at the refinery. He was joined by the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) Farouk Ahmed on the tour.
While acknowledging that repairs on the facility are not yet fully complete, he confirmed that operations have officially commenced.
Kyari said, ‘We are taking you through our plant. This plant is running. Although it is not 100 per cent complete, we are still in the process. Many people think these things are not real. They think real things are not possible in this country. We want you to see that this is real.’
The Warri Refining & Petrochemicals Company (WRPC), located in Ekpan, Uwvie, and Ubeji in Warri, produces 13,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTA) of polypropylene and 18,000 MTA of carbon black.Commissioned in 1978 and now managed by NNPCL, the WRPC was established to serve the markets in southern and southwestern Nigeria.
WRPC is one of Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, alongside the Port Harcourt Refining Company (both old and new) in Rivers State and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company in Kaduna State.