Kaduna Refinery Resumes Production

The Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company has resumed production of petrol four months after it was closed for repairs.

The Managing Director of the company, Saidu Mohammed, who disclosed this to Channels Television in Kaduna, said that the plant, which was closed in September, came back on stream last Saturday ahead of the December deadline for Nigeria’s four refineries to return to full production.

The restart of production at the Kaduna refinery should be a cheering news for Nigerians, who have endured months of scarcity of petrol.

Mohammed explained that the plant, which is getting supply of crude oil from Escravos in Warri, is currently producing at an average 1.5 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit per day.

The MD said that with the resumption of production, the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) is expected to commence trucking of refined products within the week. He added that at least 50 trucks are expected to be loading the substance for supply to the northern part of the nation and beyond on daily basis.

Mr Mohammed further explained that the Kaduna refinery is working in collaboration with the PPMC and Department of Petroluem Resources (DPR) to ensure that products are properly supplied across the region, to cushion the effect of the scarcity of petrol.

While appealing to the public to exercise patience, he gave the assurance that the long queues across the country would soon disappear as soon as the PPMC commences trucking.

Prior to its closure in September, Kaduna refinery had stopped working for most part of the year, except briefly in July and August, when its utilisation capacity dropped to about 2.6 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively, according the NNPC monthly operational report for October.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had issued a 90-day ultimatum to the managements of the four refineries shortly after his appointment in August.