JUST IN: Top Secret Exposes Over Warri Refinery
The Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC), with a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day, which was announced to have resumed production in Warri, Delta State, is producing only Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) otherwise known as diesel and Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) presently, SaharaReporters learnt from some of the workers on Monday.
The Warri Refinery is far from turning out Premium Motor Spirit (otherwise known as petrol), which is the commodity that is most highly in demand, as only one of the three plants in the facility is working, the staff further revealed.
Ibom Focus had earlier reported that the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) was said to have resumed production in Delta State.
This was made known by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, during a tour of the facility on Monday.
Addressing his team at the plant, Kyari explained the importance of the development.
“We are taking you through our plant. This plant is running. It is not 100 percent. 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,” he had boasted.
The tour had also included the Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, and other key stakeholders.
Meanwhile, speaking with some sources at the refinery revealed that the refinery had two plants still moribund despite the huge sums of money voted for its resuscitation, while advising the Nigerian government to get to work and stop its propaganda around the facility.
“The General Managing Director (Kyari) has been there since yesterday, because of some certain issues. What managed to come outside yesterday from the one plant working was Kerosene. The man has collected lots of money, so he wants to do it before he leaves.
“The army has cordoned off the place,” one of the sources said.
Explaining further, the source noted, “What will come out is AGO and Kerosene in Naphthalene. The heavy Naphtha will then be sent out and they will crack it in mass production to get gas and PMS.
“The PMS does not just come like that, they will blend it with other chemicals which will be produced. To us, it is Kerosene and DPK which is heavy Naphthalene.
“Like what happened at Port Harcourt Refinery recently, you cannot just start production and you start getting fuel (petrol). For PMS, you need to mix different chemicals before it can come out. The heavy Naphtha also, you cannot use it to run your vehicle, it will damage your vehicle engine because of its elements.
“As it is currently, what we are producing is AGO (diesel) and DPK (Dual purpose kerosene). Why they call it dual is because we have normal kerosene and Aviation fuel.
“During Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, the plant was revamped, but politics happened to it. There were some issues with it. They did not repair it but just kept spending money. Those of us working there were angry. As they put pressure, pipes were just bursting; it was a disgrace.
“So they have not started loading petrol, but you will be surprised that if the GMD should come today, they would load petrol. However, the fuel is the one we have stored in the tank for long, just to reduce tension.
“The tank for producing petroleum has not started functioning. There are three plants in the place, Area 1, 2 and 3, however, only Area 1 is working currently. That place is not for fuel but rather bye-product of fuel.”
It was also reported On December 7, that the Conversion Units of the Port Harcourt Refinery of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) which are responsible for high-value products such as jet fuel and gasoline were not functional, despite claims by Kyari that the facility was back and running.
The Conversion Units comprise of the catalytic crackers, hydrocrackers, or cokers and process the heavier fractions into higher-value products like gasoline, jet fuel, or diesel, top sources in the refinery explained on Saturday.
It was reported last week that the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) which is the primary component of the refinery is the only operational activity and that Nigerians could not yet get the actual value for which the refinery was built.
“Residual fuel oil from the CDU can be upgraded into lighter, more valuable products,” the source said.
Naija News House days ago reported that the Port Harcourt Refinery shut down operation “at the moment” with only its non-petroleum unit running which is the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, had also challenged the NNPCL GMD, Mele Kyari, asking him to explain to Nigerians how $2.9 billion meant for the smooth takeoff of the country’s three refineries was spent.
Falana had also queried why the Port Harcourt refinery was only blending 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day, while the 150,000bpd capacity is abandoned as well as the Warri and Kaduna refineries.
The human rights lawyer spoke in Lagos State at the commissioning of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) Tower.
Speaking, an authoritative source at the refinery explained that Nigerians must know that the Conversion Units which are not working yet at the Refinery are at the core of its functions.
“Conversion units (like catalytic crackers, hydrocrackers, or cokers) process these heavier fractions into higher-value products like gasoline, jet fuel, or diesel. For example: Residual fuel oil from the CDU can be upgraded into lighter, more valuable products.
“This is for Nigerians to know the politics they are playing. The refinery process is not well optimised without the conversion unit. Right now they want to sell the heavier ends to a Dubai company just for them to continue running. The heavier ends should have been converted to give you more useful lighter end products which will add value to the crude,” the source revealed.
“Before the current GMD (Kyari) came in, Warri and Port Harcourt refineries were running the CDU plant along with some conversion units before he then said we should shut down the plant in 2019.
“His reason was that we were not adding value to the crude. What we are doing now running the Area 5 CDU is not different from what we were doing before 2019. Making noise about the CDU running does not make sense,” the source had further revealed.
