The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited has announced that the state-owned Warri refinery has resumed crude oil processing.
The confirmation was made on Monday by NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, during a site inspection at the petrochemical plant.
Located in Delta State, an oil-rich region of Nigeria, the Warri refinery has a production capacity of 120,000 barrels per day.
This marks the second of the four state-owned refineries to resume operations this year after years of inactivity.
The Warri refinery is expected to bolster Nigeria’s petroleum supply, reducing the nation’s reliance on imported petrol.
“Gentlemen and ladies, we are taking you on a tour on our plant. You can see the reality yourself. This plant is running. We’ve not completed 100 percent. We are still in progress on the other part of the plant. There are many people who don’t think this is real. As you all know, a lot of media stunt all over the place. Everything you see is real,” Kyari stated during the tour.
Last month, NNPC confirmed that the Port Harcourt refinery’s old wing had also resumed operations.
The Port Harcourt refinery has since supplied petrol to the domestic market.
Video footage from the Warri refinery site showed the plant in operation, with smoke visibly rising from its stacks.
Nigeria, despite being an oil-producing nation, has long relied on imported petrol to meet its supply needs.
Reports indicate that the country spent an average of N7 trillion on fuel imports in 2023.
This figure has seen a decline with the commencement of operations at the mega Dangote Refinery, which began production late last year.
With a production capacity of 650,000 barrels per day, the refinery is poised to position Nigeria as a net exporter of refined petroleum products for the first time.
