Recently concluded repairs and maintenance at the hitherto moribund refineries in Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna have started yielding results.
The trio now about 12 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol, and Automotive Gas Oil, popularly referred to as diesel, on a daily basis, thus drastically reducing pressure on forex for imports.
This was made public in far away Houston Texas, venue of the ongoing Offshore Technology Conference (OTC)
The managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru who made the revelation through the Chief Operating Officer, Gas and Power, Mr. Saidu Mohammed, said the production of the white products by the refineries has led to stability and availability of the commodities across the country.
He said with the current level of production progress, indications are becoming clear that the 2019 target set by the NNPC to exit the importation of PMS was still achievable.
According to him, “We load out at least five to six million litres of PMS daily and about that same quantity of AGO daily from the three refineries. That is part of what is making the PMS market in Nigeria stable today. We believe that the set target of exiting PMS importation in 2019 is achievable”.
Baru was however quick to stress that because the rehabilitation of the refineries had been hampered by lack of regular turn around maintenance over the years, it would take more years to get them fully back to their nameplate capacities.
