The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) is awaiting the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to reopen its portal for lifting petroleum products from the Warri Refinery, following a temporary shutdown for routine maintenance.
The Warri Refinery, with a capacity of 125,000 barrels per day (bpd), resumed operations a month ago after years of rehabilitation. However, last week, the NNPCL announced a brief shutdown for maintenance, assuring that operations would resume soon.
Speaking in a telephone interview according to Vanguard, PETROAN President, Dr. Billy Gillis-Harris, confirmed that the association had an allocation to lift products from the refinery and was prepared to resume once the NNPCL portal was reopened.
“We have an allocation to lift from Warri refinery. We were lifting from there before. We are waiting for the NNPCL to open its portal so we can continue lifting.
‘’We intend to continue lifting petroleum products from the refinery once the NNPCL reopens its portal,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has shifted focus to alternative sources, with many of its members lifting products from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery through MRS in Warri and Calabar. IPMAN National President, Alhaji Maigandi Garima, also disclosed that product lifting from the Port Harcourt Refinery is expected to commence soon.
“Hopefully, we will start lifting from Port Harcourt Refinery, this week. As for the Warri and Port Harcourt refinery, we are waiting for NNPCL to start loading to our marketers.
‘’Majority of our members have shifted loyalty to Dangote/MRS arrangement thereby neglecting tank farm owners. It’s only marketers that are yet to complete their registration with the MRS arrangement that buy from depots,” he stated.
While NNPCL’s Chief Communications Officer, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, was unavailable for comments, he recently dismissed rumors of an explosion at the Warri Refinery, clarifying that the ongoing maintenance was necessary for sustainable operations.
“On January 25, 2025, operations at WRPC Area 1 were intentionally curtailed to carry out necessary intervention works on select equipment, including field instruments that were impacting sustainable and steady operations.
“These intervention works are essential to ensure the production of finished and intermediate products, particularly Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and Kerosene (Kero),” Soneye explained.
Despite the maintenance, NNPCL confirmed that AGO loading has continued at an average of eight trucks per day over the past 11 days, with sufficient supply available. The company assured stakeholders that product distribution would remain steady once maintenance is completed.
