Updated: Reps to probe alleged sabotage at Warri refinery

The House of Representatives is set to investigate alleged sabotage at the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, which has reportedly stalled its operation.

It has therefore asked the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, to furnish its Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) with details and circumstances surrounding the storage lease at the company.

The lawmakers mandated the committee to investigate the failure and the neglect by the NNPC to address the haulage challenges such as inadequate storage tanks affecting the Warri refinery to forestall the frequent shutdown of the company and report back to the House in four weeks.

The House passed the resolutions following a motion by Ben Igbakpa (Delta PDP) on the commencement of operations at the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company.

Igbakpa said the refinery had been mandated to produce refined products from local crude and that the three main sections of the production department, namely: reforming, crude distillation and catalytic cracking units  had operated for the past eight years due to the efforts of its personnel.

The lawmaker said the plants were operating at an output of around 115m3/hour translating to about 68 per cent installed capacity.

He listed products being supplied from the refinery as premium motor spirit (PMS) or petrol, automotive gas oil, kerosene, LPG, low pour fuel oil for ships and industrial fuel and carbon black.

The lawmaker said, “The House is disturbed that the refinery has not operated optimally due to alleged top management decisions of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to ground the plant for personal benefit from marketers importing products that can be produced in the refinery;

“Concerned that the plant had severally shut down due to haulage challenges, neglect in the evacuation of products, lack of functional or operational storage tanks and poor maintenance culture on the part of management which also constitutes another reason for the refinery non – functionality;

“Aware of the alleged plan to ground the plant from refining products by members of the top echelon of the Warri Refinery in collaboration with the Chief Operating Officer (COO) as well as diverting crude meant for refining.”

He also said he was “aware that when crude oil is delivered from Escravous tank farm for refining, the products are hoarded for about 14 days and thereafter diverted through the refinery jetty to interested buyers (or specific companies they have special interests in) who pay less. The resultant effects of this perceived economic sabotage is that the plant is brought down because no crude to refine as it has been diverted.

“Further aware that when it became apparent that the management of Warri Refinery has abandoned their responsibility of maintaining the plant, the staff of the refinery on several occasions contributed their money to buy materials and tools to fix faulty equipment.”

The lawmaker said that it was alarming that “currently, most of the spherical tanks used for storage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) have been leased out to Kwale Hydrocarbon Nigeria Limited (KHNL), a private company, while other storage tanks are being leased out to private interests all in a bid to ensure that the Warri Refining and petrochemical company remains shut down indefinitely, even when the said refinery has the production capacity of 75 per cent.”

He alluded to the inadequacies at the refinery and others as largely responsible for the crisis in the nation’s petroleum industry sector with regard to supply and pricing.

He said, “Cognizant that the Federal Government has officially confirmed the return of fuel subsidy, as the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) has on 11 March 2021 fixed the pump price of PMS also known as petrol, at N212.61 per liter, for March, which the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and NNPC has denied yet petroleum marketers sell between N175 – N200 depending on the location;

“Also cognizant that the increase is due to the shutdown of local refineries and create the cost elements of the commodity which the Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency ( PPPRA) analyzed as comprising the addition to the ex-coastal price of average lightering expenses, Nigerian Maritime Administration (NIMASA) charges, jetty throughput charges, storage charge and average financing costs with the inclusion of retailers’ margin has now brought the pump price of the commodity to 212.61 per litre.”