Menu

The three refineries owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation have resumed production of automotive gas oil (AGO), also known as diesel; and dual purpose kerosene (DPK), otherwise known as kerosene. In a statement posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday, the NNPC said the resumption of production at the refineries in Kaduna, Warri and Port Harcourt is expected to balance the “disequilibrium” in demand and supply of the white products currently witnessed across the country.

Solomon Ladenegan, the Managing Director of NNPC-owned Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), said the refinery resumed production last Saturday at about 10:22am as the plant’s Crude Distillation Unit began functioning again. Ladenegan also said the refinery now processes two million litres of kerosene and three million litres of diesel daily.

“We have pumped the products to PPMC and they have started loading,” Ladenegan said. “They are going to load up to one million litres of DPK and AGO. The products are there in the tank and we are doing everything to get them to the market.”

Bafred Enjugu, the Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), also said the refinery is currently producing three million litres of AGO daily in addition to millions of DPK daily.

As for the Kaduna Refining & Petrochemical Company (KRPC), the NNPC said the refinery had “roared into action”, producing millions of litres of white products to ease out the situation in supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.

Besides the refining the products at the local refineries, NNPC said it has made arrangements for additional supply via direct import of premium motor spirit (PMS), AGO and DPK to sustain products availability across the country.

Owing to decades of neglect and government corruption, the NNPC’s refineries currently operate at less than 10 percent of their installed capacity. The refineries have a combined refining capacity of 445,000 bpd. Out of this figure, PHRC accounts for 210,000 bpd of installed capacity; WRPC, 125,00 bpd refining capacity; and KRPC has 110,000 bpd of installed capacity.