Scarcity: NNPC refineries resume production of kerosene, diesel

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says its three refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri have resumed production of diesel and kerosene.
Mr Ndu Ughamadu, Group General Manager, NNPC Public Affairs Division, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said that the resumption of refining of the products was expected to balance the disequilibrium for demand and supply of the products as being experienced in parts of the country.
He further said that the Kaduna Refinery had also commenced operations to ease the situation in supply and distribution of petroleum products nationwide.
Ughamadu also stated that NNPC had made arrangements for additional supply intervention through direct importation of diesel, kerosene and DPK to sustain product availability across the country.
In the statement, Mr Solomon Ladenegan, the Managing Director of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), said that the plant was doing well.
This, he said, was especially so since the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) was revived on Jan. 7, adding that it resumed production same day.
According to Ladenegan, the plant now refines 2 million litres of kerosene and 3 million litres of diesel daily.
“This morning, we have pumped the products to PPMC and they have started loading; they are going to load up to one million litres of diesel and kerosene.
“The products are there in the tank and we are doing everything to get them to the market,” Ladenegan said.
In the same vein, the Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Dr Bafred Enjugu, said that the refinery was producing 3 million litres of AGO (diesel) daily.
This, he said, was in addition to 2 millions of DPK (kerosene) being produced by the refinery daily.
Enjugu expressed happiness that his operators were thrilled following the rehabilitation of old Port Harcourt Refinery.
He said that with the development, production of diesel was being carried out by locals without deployment of foreign expertise.
An independent marketer, Alhaji Abubakar Yahaya of Yamoyus Nigeria Ltd. described the refinery and the depot environment as positive.
He said that marketers now had access to diesel and kerosene in sufficient quantities.