NIGERIA: Warri Refinery Begins Operation, Says Mele Kyari

By Ameenat Hamzat, Lagos, Nigeria

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), has announced that the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company in Warri, Delta State, has begun operations.

This was revealed by the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, in a video posted by Channels TV on Monday, during a tour of the facility.

The video showed Kyari addressing the tour team, which included the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed.

During his speech, Kyari explained that the inspection aimed to show Nigerians the progress made so far on the 125,000-barrel-per-day refinery.

He also noted that while repairs at the refinery are not yet complete, operations have already commenced.

He said: “We are taking you through our plant. This plant is running. Although it is not 100 percent 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 refinery is located in Ekpan, Uwvie, and Ubeji in Warri, Delta State.

The refinery was commissioned in 1978 with a capacity of 6,250,000 MTA (125,000 bpd).

It is a complex conversion plant, which includes a petrochemicals plant commissioned in 1988 with production capacities of 13,000 MTA of polypropylene and 18,000 MTA of carbon black.

The refinery supplies several markets in the South and Southwest regions of Nigeria.