TheCable

Desmond Inyamah, acting managing director, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), says the refinery will commence full operations in December 2023.

Inyamah made this known when members of the house of representatives ad hoc committee on the state of the country’s refineries paid a visit to inspect the ongoing turnaround maintenance of the refinery in Ekpan, Delta state.

Briefing the committee members on the level of work at the site, he said the last time maintenance work was done at the WRPC was in 2004 and 2005.

Johnson Ganiyu, chairman of the committee, noted that the panel had gone to inspect the state of work at the Port Harcourt refineries.

Ganiyu said the purpose of the oversight was to have first hand knowledge of the state of the WRPC.

Expressing satisfaction with the level of work at the site, he said when fully functional, the refineries will address the issues of crude oil importation, scarcity of refined products to meet local consumption and export.

Ganiyu said he was delighted with the various ongoing maintenance at the different refineries in the country, and urged the contractor handling the project to respect the terms and conditions of the contract and deliver on projected time.

The country has three state-owned refineries including the Port-Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC).

In August 2021, the federal executive council (FEC) approved the sum of $1.48 billion for the rehabilitation of both Warri and Kaduna refineries.