Warri Refinery gets 90-day ultimatum to start operations

Ibe Kachikwu, group managing director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), yesterday, gave a 90-day ultimatum to the management of the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) to commence full production.

The Warri facility has the capacity to process 125, 000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The NNPC boss, who after touring the refinery and the adjoining Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Jetty and Depot in Warri, Delta State, charged the management and staff to ensure that the plant was streamed back to full active service within the projected period.

He noted that he was ready to provide the management the necessary support to enable them meet the fast track target.

“So, whatever you need to do to get your refinery back on track please do it now because this is the time. It’s a 90 days Fast-Track programme and whatever you need me to do to make that happen, let me know,’’ he said.

He also enjoined the management to resuscitate the petrochemicals plant commissioned in March 1988.

On the state of PPMC storage facility, he promised to end the era where the company relied heavily on private depots to store a bulk of its petroleum products.

“Some of the biggest storage facilities in this industry belong to PPMC; I recall when I was growing up in this industry, we all got our products from PPMC. In fact, the fear of PPMC then was the beginning of wisdom, but now PPMC is putting products more on the tanks of marketers and letting them run the show. But that is not going to continue under my watch,’’ he said.

Responding to the ultimatum, Solomon Ladenegan, acting managing director of WRPC, pledged that measures had been put in place to ensure that the plant was back in full operation by early November, in good time for the three months fast track moratorium.

The 37-year old refinery, which has been undergoing phased rehabilitation exercise, was shut last week due to some technical hitches in one of its units.