The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced the resumption of operations at the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) in Delta State, marking a significant milestone in Nigeria’s refining capacity.
This development comes just weeks after the 60,000-barrel-per-day Port Harcourt Refinery began operations.
The NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, revealed this during a tour of the facility on Monday, alongside the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed.
Addressing the team, Kyari emphasized the partial completion of the refinery and assured Nigerians of tangible progress. "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. We want you to see that this is real," he said in a video shared by Channels TV.
Located in Ekpan, Uwvie, and Ubeji, Warri, the WRPC produces 13,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene and 18,000 metric tonnes of carbon black annually.
Commissioned in 1978 and managed by NNPCL, the facility was built to serve Nigeria's southern and southwestern markets.
Although the mechanical completion of the refinery was initially projected for the first quarter of 2024, operations have commenced ahead of schedule. "Warri should be done by Q1 2024," noted Olufemi Soneye, NNPCL's spokesperson.
The WRPC is one of Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, alongside the old and new Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company in Kaduna State.
Its reopening signifies a critical step towards reducing the country’s reliance on imported petroleum products and bolstering domestic production.