- Full Operations in 2025
By Abiola Olawale
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced that the Warri Refining & Petrochemicals Company Limited (WRPC) located in Warri, Delta State, with a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day, has resumed operations.
This development was shared by the Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, during a tour of the facility, on Monday.
However, Kyari confirmed that the repairs on the facility are not yet 100% complete.
He stated: “We are taking you through our plant. 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. They think real things are not possible in this country. We want you to see that this is real.
“I must congratulate our team for their determination and extreme belief that this company can restart this plant.
“This has brought the result we are seeing in collaboration with our contractors. We have proved that it is possible to restart a plant that you deliberately shut down. We have proved this.
“This plant has three stages. We have started stage one which is called Area 1, able to produce AGO (diesel), Kerosene, naphtha and others. These are brands of high-quality products required in the country. We will also be able to export them. This country will make money to meet the promises of Mr president that this country will be an exporter of petroleum products.
“I must put on record the development was as a result of the charge by Mr President that we must get all three refineries to work. It is already happening. We have successfully started the Port Harcourt 65, 000 barrels per day refinery. We have also started the area 1 of the Warri refinery. The other plants that will produce PMS will also come live.”
This announcement comes barely a month after the old Port Harcourt Refinery, with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, also began operations.
The New Diplomat reports that the Warri Refinery was commissioned in 1978 and is a complex conversion refinery with a nameplate distillation capacity of 6,250,000 metric tonnes per annum (MTA), which translates to 125,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The facility includes a petrochemical plant commissioned in 1988, which produces 13,000 MTA of polypropylene and 18,000 MTA of carbon black.
The refinery has faced numerous challenges, including low capacity utilization and multiple shutdowns due to maintenance issues, according to the NNPCL.
