The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has announced plans to transfer the operations and maintenance of the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals (WRPC), and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals (KRPC) to private operators.
This was announced in an Expression Of Interest (EOI) posted on its X handle on Friday.
NNPC Ltd said, it is seeking to engage reputable and credible Operations and Maintenance (O&M) companies to operate and maintain the two refineries.
This, it further disclosed was to ensure reliability and sustainability to meet the nation’s fuel supply and energy security obligations.
Located in Delta State, and Kaduna State respectively, and established in 1978, and 1980, the Warri and Kadina Refineries are among the nation’s three refineries under the management of NNPCL.
Warri Refinery is a complex conversion refinery with a nameplate distillation capacity of 6.25 million metric tons per annum (MTA), equivalent to 125,000 barrels per day (bpd).
The refinery complex also includes a petrochemical plant commissioned in 1988, with production capacities of 13,000 MTA of polypropylene and 18,000 MTA of carbon black.
The facility primarily supplies petroleum products to markets in the southern and southwestern regions of Nigeria.
Also, the Kaduna Refinery was commissioned in 1980 to cater for the petroleum needs of Northern Nigeria, with an initial capacity of 50,000 barrels per day (B/D).
In 1983, a second crude train was added, doubling the capacity to 100,000 B/D, dedicated to producing lubricating oils.
Further expansion in 1986 increased the capacity of the first crude train to 60,000 B/D, bringing the total nameplate capacity of the refinery to 110,000 B/D.
Meanwhile, the Port Harcourt Refinery and Petrochemicals (PHRC) is expected to resume local refining in September.
This, according to analysts, would end the years of idleness of the state-owned refinery and reduce the prices of petrol in the country.