The mechanical completion of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) is expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year, according to Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. WRPC, located in Warri, Delta State, and constructed in 1978, is one of Nigeria’s three refineries managed by NNPCL.
The remaining two are the Port Harcourt Refining Company in Rivers State and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company in Kaduna State. Both facilities are now undergoing rehabilitation work. The Warri refinery is a complicated conversion refinery that can process 125,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The site contains a petrochemical factory (built in 1988) that produces polypropylene and carbon black.
It distributes petroleum products to southern and southwest Nigeria, but is currently not manufacturing refined goods due to the Federal Government’s restoration of the facility. However, in a quick response to reporter’s question about when the plant would be mechanically completed, NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, stated that the objective was to have it completed in the first quarter of this year.
Recall that Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, indicated on Wednesday that the Warri refinery was still being worked on. He revealed this in response to a query on the Port Harcourt refinery, the mechanical completion of which was enthusiastically celebrated by the Federal Government on December 21, 2023. Lokpobiri noted that the rehabilitation exercise at the plants was vast, but he was optimistic that the facilities will be operational shortly.
Olufemi Soneye has said that Port Harcourt refinery was nearing completion, as the government worked hard to get the plant operational. According to him, the mechanical phase of the PH (Port Harcourt) refinery Area-5 plant has been completed, as well as the installation of all critical components and licensor inspection has been completed, and catalysts have been supplied.
