Relief for Nigerians as NNPC resumes production of kerosene and diesel

- Three NNPC refineries in Nigeria have resumed production of diesel and kerosene

- The refineries are in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna

Three refineries of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) have resumed production of Automative Gas oil (AGO) and Dual Purpose Kerosne (DPK), otherwise known as diesel and kerosene respectively.

The refineries are the ones in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna. The resumption of refining of AGO and DPK is expected to balance the disequilibrium in demand and supply of the white products being experienced in recent times in parts of the Country.

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According to Vanguard, the Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Engr. Solomon Ladenegan, said the plant had been doing well since the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) was revved up on Saturday, 7 January, 2017.

Ladenegan said the refinery resumed production last Saturday at about 10:22hrs, with the plant’s CDU functioning.

The refinery MD stated that the plant now refines 2 million litres of kerosene and 3 million litres of diesel daily.

He said: “This morning, we have pumped the products to PPMC and they have started loading. They are going to load up to 1 million litres of DPK and AGO. The products are there in the tank and we are doing everything to get them to the market.”

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On his part, the Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Dr Bafred Enjugu, said Port Harcourt refinery was producing 3 million litres of AGO daily, in addition to millions of DPK being churned out by the refinery daily.

Enjugu enthused that his operators were thrilled having rehabilitated the old Port Harcourt refinery where production of AGO was being carried out by themselves without foreign expertise deployment.

The Kaduna refinery has also roared into action, producing millions of litres of white products to ease out the situation in supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.

An independent marketer, Alhaji Abubakar Usman Yahaya, of Yamoyus Nigeria Ltd who was at the PHRC Depot for loading, described the refinery and the depot environment as positive, affirming that he and his co-marketers had access to PMS, AGO and DPK in sufficient quantities.

Yahaya said: “I think this is because the refinery has started working.”

Beside the products from the refineries, NNPC has made arrangements for additional supply intervention through direct import of PMS, AGO and DPK to sustain products availability across the country.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) on Wednesday, January 12, 2017 suspended its three-day nationwide warning strike after a meeting with officials of the federal government.

The strike which had commenced on Wednesday, January 12, 2017 had led to halting of all oil related activities in the country.