The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has stated that it is awaiting the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to reopen its portal, enabling the association to resume lifting petroleum products from the Warri refinery.
The 125,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery resumed operations and began loading petroleum products about a month ago after extensive rehabilitation.
However, last week, the NNPCL announced that the plant had been temporarily shut down for routine maintenance and would soon be operational again.
In a phone interview with Vanguard, Dr. Billy Gillis-Harris, President of PETROAN, confirmed: “We have an allocation to lift products from the Warri refinery, which we were doing before. We are now waiting for the NNPCL to open its portal so we can resume lifting. Once the portal is reopened, we plan to continue lifting petroleum products.”
Alhaji Maigandi Garima, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), added, “Our members lift products from Dangote Petroleum Refinery through MRS at both Warri and Calabar. We hope to begin lifting from Port Harcourt Refinery this week. As for Warri and Port Harcourt refineries, we are waiting for NNPCL to start loading for our marketers.”
Garima also mentioned that many members have shifted their loyalty to the Dangote/MRS arrangement, leaving tank farm owners behind. He added, “Only marketers who have not completed their registration with the MRS arrangement are still buying from depots.”
The Chief Communications Officer of NNPCL, Mr. Olufemi Soneye, could not be reached for comment. However, in a recent statement, he clarified that there was no explosion at the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), calling such reports “completely false.”
Soneye explained, “On January 25, 2025, operations at WRPC Area 1 were intentionally curtailed to perform necessary intervention works on specific equipment, including field instruments, which were affecting steady operations. These works are crucial to ensuring the continued production of finished and intermediate products, especially Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and Kerosene (Kero).”
He further stated that the routine maintenance was progressing as scheduled and that Area 1 would resume normal operations in the coming days. “Despite ongoing maintenance, AGO loading has continued at an average of eight trucks per day over the past 11 days, with sufficient supply to meet ongoing loading operations.”
Soneye reiterated NNPC Ltd’s commitment to ensuring an uninterrupted supply of products and thanked stakeholders for their patience and cooperation during this essential maintenance period.
