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FULL LIST: Warri, Port Harcourt, seven other completed refineries in Nigeria

The 125,000 barrels per day Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) has commenced operations.

Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), disclosed this during a tour of the facility on Monday, 30 December.

Addressing the team during the tour of the facility, Kyari said, “This plant is running. Although it is not 100 percent 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.”

Here are nine completed refineries in Nigeria:

1. Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company:

This project is a wholly owned subsidiary of AIPCC Energy.

It operates in two phases with capacities of 1,000 BPSD and 5,000 BPSD and has been commissioned and is fully operational.

2. Duport Midstream:

Located in Edo State, this is a 2,500-BPD refinery that was completed in 2022 and started production in 2023.

3. Walter Smith refinery:

The Walter Smith refinery is a 5,000-bpd oil refinery located in Imo State. The refinery started operations in 2020, with plans to expand its capacity to 50,000 bpd in the coming years.

4. OPAC Refinery, Delta State:

This 10,000-bpd modular refinery, located in Kwale, Delta State, was completed in 2021 as part of the federal government’s effort to improve local crude oil refining.

5. Niger Delta Petroleum Refinery (Aradel).

The initial 1,000 bbls/day AGO topping plant was commissioned in 2010. Currently, the 3-train, 11,000 bbls/day modular refinery produces Automotive Gas Oil, dual-purpose kerosene, Marine Diesel Oil, high-pressure fuel oil, and Naphtha.

6. Old Port-Harcourt refinery:

Built and commissioned in 1965 with a refining capacity of 60,000 barrels of oil per day.

In March 2021, the federal government awarded the repair of the refinery to Tecnimont SPA, an Italian company that would carry out repair works in phases.

In December last year, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Sen. Keineken Lokpobiri, announced the mechanical completion and flare startup of the refinery.

7. Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC):

The 125,000-bpd capacity WRPC was built and commissioned in 1978 at a cost of around $478 million.

Until today, the refinery has never achieved full capacity utilisation, as production declined steadily except in the early 1990s, during which there was a brief upswing in production.

Read Also: Warri Refinery re-opening: Tinubu lauds NNPCL on historic milestone

In 2021, the federal government awarded the contract for the repair of the decrepit refinery to Saipem SPA for $897 million.

8. New Port-Harcourt refinery:

In 1985, the federal government commissioned the New Port Harcourt refinery, built for $850 million. It can refine 150,000 barrels of oil daily.

The commissioning of the New Port Harcourt refinery increased the total refining capacity of the plants to 210,000 barrels per day.

9. Dangote Refinery:

This is a 650,000-bpd refinery located in Lekki, Lagos State. The refinery cost around $19 billion and was commissioned in May 2023. Oil refining started in late December 2023, and it began dispensing products to local and international markets in May 2024.

December 30, 2024
Warri Refinery re-opening: Tinubu lauds NNPCL on historic milestone

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has hailed the reopening of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) as a monumental achievement for the country.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President described the development as a “remarkable way to end 2024,” reinforcing Nigerians’ confidence in his administration’s drive to revitalise the oil and gas sector.

The Warri Refinery, which had been dormant for years, resumed operations with an initial capacity utilisation of 60%.

This follows the successful restart of a 60,000 barrels-per-day facility at the Port Harcourt Refinery in November, marking a major milestone in the government’s strategy to ramp up local refining capacity and reduce Nigeria’s reliance on imported petroleum products.

President Tinubu commended the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) under the leadership of Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari for its commitment to restoring the country’s refining capabilities.

“ The restart of Warri Refinery today brings joy and gladness to me and Nigerians. This will further strengthen the hope and confidence of Nigerians for a greater and better future that we promised,” the president said.

The WRPC, now producing key petroleum products such as Straight Run Kerosene (SRK), Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), and naphtha, is expected to play a pivotal role in enhancing Nigeria’s downstream industrial activities.

This achievement is part of a larger vision laid out by the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration to overhaul Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries.

The process began with contracts awarded during the tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari and has gained significant momentum under President Tinubu’s directive for full rehabilitation.

The President emphasised his administration’s unwavering commitment to achieving energy security and transforming Nigeria into a hub for crude oil refining in Africa.

Read Also: Tinubu approves federal university for Southern Kaduna

He also urged the NNPCL to expedite the rehabilitation of the Kaduna Refinery and the second Port Harcourt Refinery, both of which are critical to consolidating Nigeria’s position as a global energy provider.

“This development is a remarkable way to end the year following the feat recorded earlier with the old Port Harcourt Refinery. I am equally happy that NNPC Limited is implementing my directive to restore all four refineries to good working condition.

“I congratulate Mele Kyari and his team at NNPCL for working hard to restore our national pride and make Nigeria a hub for crude oil refining in Africa,” President Tinubu said.

December 30, 2024
BREAKING: Warri Refinery commences operations

The 125,000 barrels per day Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) has commenced operations.

Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, disclosed this during a tour of the facility on Monday.

Addressing the team during the tour of the facility, Kyari said, “This plant is running. Although it is not 100 percent complete, we are still in the process.

“Many people think these matters are not real. They believe real things are not possible in this country. We want you to see that this is real.”

Details shortly…

December 30, 2024
Fire outbreak at Warri Refinery won’t affect rehabilitation delivery – NNPCL

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has assured that the fire which broke out at the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), will not affect the delivery timing of rehabilitation works at the facility.

Management of the NNPCL disclosed this in a statement posted on its official X handle, at the weekend.

Describing the fire as “minor,” the company said it was put out by its safety officers about 30 minutes after it occurred.

Read Also: INEC to parties: Stop malicious rumour mongering

The statement read: “This afternoon, at about 15:02hrs, there was a minor fire incident at the cooling tower of Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC).

“The fire which occurred as a result of ongoing welding activity at the top of the cooling tower will not affect the refinery rehabilitation project delivery schedule.

“NNPC Limited safety officers at the Refinery acted immediately and put out the fire at about 15:30hrs; normalcy has since been restored. NNPC Limited will continue to adhere to the best safety standards in all its business operations.”

October 22, 2023
Warri Refinery’s casual workers seek formalised jobs

Over 700 casual workers of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) at Ekpan in Delta State have urged the Federal Government and the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to regularise their employment status.

In a statement yesterday in Warri, Delta State, by the Acting Chairman of Uvwie WRPC Support/Contract Staff Union, Akaighe Dennis and Acting Secretary, Onaodowan Paul, the contract workers claimed they had been working under conditions not befitting their academic or professional qualifications for many years.

Alleging that there may be an underplay of activities which negates the usual process of absolving support staff, the union urged the Federal Government and other relevant agencies to intervene and give them a sense of belonging.

Read also: Firm ties refinery construction to full downstream deregulation

The statement said: “We have continued to eke out a living in conditions only akin to those of slaves even though we live as free men in our ancestral land.

“We humbly ask the same measures applied in previous cases of NNPC general employment be applied in this case. It is also worthy to mention that the NNPC has already captured the biometric details of its support staff as a prerequisite for internal recruitment.

“However, there are indications that NNPC seems to be deviating from its previously planned internal recruitment process due to the vested interest of certain highly placed NNPC executive in Abuja.”

Also, WRPC’s host community, Ekpan, in Uvwie Local Government Area, has threatened to shut down the six subsidiaries of the NNPC in its domain.

Ekpan Development Committee (EDC) Chairman Innocent Adjenurgurhe said the employment policy of the petroleum regulatory body appeared to enslave the host communities.

Speaking on behalf of the community, the lawyer urged the NNPC to halt the current employment until it addresses the status of backup workers.

Adjenurgurhe described the current recruitment as a “ploy by the (WRPC) management to bring in their cronies and relations, while those who have been doing the job and are experienced are side-lined”.

April 18, 2019
Warri refinery to resume production November

Dr Emmanuel Kachikwu, Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), on Thursday said Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) would resume production in November, 2015.

He disclosed this during his official visit to the WRPC in Ekpan, near Warri in Delta.

Kachikwu, who assumed duty in August 2015, said that the refinery stopped production temporarily to enable the authorities to carry out maintenance on some of its facilities.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that production of petroleum products resumed at the refinery about a month ago after it was shut down for more than one year but was stopped two weeks ago for the maintenance.

The GMD said that there had been no serious maintenance on the plants for about 15 years, adding that it had adversely affected the efficiency of the refinery.

“WRPC was not shut down because of lack of crude oil supply nor was crude oil not supplied because the refinery was down; the two are different things altogether.

“It makes no sense to supply crude oil that will be sold in the international market to refinery when it is idle.

“The Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) unit had problem and that is why it was shut down. However, they are working assiduously on it.

“The reality is that for over 10 and 15 years, no serious maintenance has been done on the plants,’’ he said.

He said that refineries in the country would henceforth be given serious attention, especially in the area of consistent maintenance to enhance productivity, adding that the facilities had ‘’funding, contracting time and emergency proceedings’’ challenges.

“There is a clear cut focus on the refineries to ensure that they run consistently; we are beginning to take the refineries seriously to bring them to reliability platforms.

“By the end of first week of November, the WRPC will be back,’’ he said.

Kachickwu also said that most of the pipelines were weak because they were over 40 years old, coupled with frequent vandalism on them.

He said aggressive security approach would be adopted in tackling security challenges in the corporation’s operations, remarking that “we will increase internal and external patrol where we have long distance pipelines like the Warri/Escravos route.

“In the next couple of weeks, we are also going to have tracking device that can track whatever is happening to the pipelines.

“My major goal is that by October, I like to see crude oil pumped by pipelines, rather than marine vessels transferring products into the refinery.’’

Kachickwu also said that faulty transmission lines were responsible for the gas supply into the national grid, assuring that there was enough gas in the system.

He explained that the various ongoing projects on the transmission line would boost electricity when completed.

“What we are doing right now is to try and maximise the volume of quantity of gas we can get through the existing transmission lines,’’ he stated

September 3, 2015
Port Harcourt, Warri refineries begin preliminary production

The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Wednesday said the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries have been successfully re-streamed after a nine-month phased rehabilitation exercise conducted by its in-house engineers and technicians.

The corporation in a statement revealed that both plants have commenced preliminary production of petroleum products after successful test-runs, noting that while PHRC is ramping up its operation to about 60 percent of its 210, 000 barrels per day name plate capacity, WRPC production is projected to hit 80 percent of its installed 125, 000 bpd capacity.

The NNPC said the PHRC is projected to boost the nation’s local refining capacity with a product yield of 5million litres of petrol per day, while WRPC would contribute 3.5 million litres of petrol to local refining capacity.

Providing insight into the rehabilitation exercise, the NNPC noted that it had to adopt the phased rehabilitation strategy after the Original Refinery Builders (ORB) who were initially contacted for the project came up with unfavorable terms.

“Though a decision was taken in 2011 to rehabilitate all the refineries using the ORB of each of the refineries, we were impelled to switch strategy after the ORBs declined participation and nominated some partners in their stead who came up with outrageously unfavorable terms,” the corporation stated.

July 29, 2015
Panic as explosion rocks Warri Refinery

•MEND claims responsibility

•NNPC: no cause for alarm

There was pandemonium at the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) yesterday morning when one of the plants in the complex exploded.

Eyewitness said no fewer than 30 persons suffered varying degrees of burns, some very severe, from the explosion in a section of the complex known as ‘Area 2’.

The victims were taken to an undisclosed hospital, suspected to the NNPC medical centre in Edjeba, Warri.

It was gathered that one of the chemical or gas equipment that was used in a routine maintenance blew up and sparked off a fire.

The incident sent workers of the company and nearby Warri Depot of PPMC and inhabitants of neighbouring communities scampering for cover.

Attempts by reporters to get details of the accident were frustrated by plain cloth security operatives and stern-faced soldiers deployed in the area immediately the explosion occurred.

A cameraman with the Delta State Broadcasting in Warri was manhandled by the security operatives who also confiscated his camera.

The embattled newsman got his camera back after nearly four hours later, when the security men had wiped out the entire content of the tape inside.

The huge bellow of smoke that rose over the skyline of the twin cities of Effurun and Warri led to panic among residents.

The quick intervention of fire-fighters of WRPC, who were joined by their counterparts from Shell Petroleum Development Company and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), ensured that the fire was put out swiftly before it spread to other parts of the company.

The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) claimed responsibility for the incident.

The militant group, in an online statement by its Spokesperson, Jomo Gbomo, said the attack was intended to raze the entire refining facility.

MEND said as long as President Goodluck Jonathan continued to rely on an “unsustainable and fraudulent” Niger Delta Amnesty Programme, peace and security would continue to elude his government, especially in the Niger Delta.

The militant group, which earlier threatened more attacks in the Niger Delta, insisted that its Hurricane Exodus was on course.

The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation(NNPC) described the incident as a minor fire incident in the Topping Unit of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, WRPC.

It said the fire was promptly brought under control through the combined effort of the Fire Department and other staff of the Refinery.

A statement by the Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Tumini Green, explained that the fire, which started around 11am, was successfully extinguished without any fatality.

Green noted that the Unit involved was promptly isolated and shut down for safety adding that the exact cause of the fire is being investigated by the Management of the Refinery. She said appropriate steps would be taken to forestall future occurrence.

The NNPC Spokesperson noted that preparations are under way for re-streaming of the affected units.

Green said: “We wish to seize this opportunity to reassure members of the general public that the NNPC continues to hold sufficient stock of premium motor spirit(petrol) and other petroleum products and therefore no cause for panic buying.”

October 23, 2013
Fire guts Warri refinery

The Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company, Delta State, was on Tuesday morning gutted by fire.

The cause of the fire, which started at about 11.00am was not immediately known.

Eyewitness said it started from one of the refining plants in the complex. The fire was still raging at the time of this report and Warri and its environ was engulfed in huge overcast of smoke pouring into the sky from the blazing inferno.

It was gathered that the management of the company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, has sent SOS to the state fire service and companies that have private fire fighting equipment to join in the efforts to quell the inferno.

October 22, 2013