THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) management has stated that the rehabilitation of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company (KRPC) will be completed by the end of 2024, following years of shutdown due to lack of maintenance.
The Managing Director of KRPC, Mustafa Sugungun, revealed this yesterday during an oversight visit to the refinery by members of the Senate Adhoc Committee on Petroleum Downstream, chaired by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.
He explained that the 110,000-barrel-per-day refinery will begin producing at 60 percent capacity by the end of the year, with full output following.
The KRPC boss added that the rehabilitation work, which is now at 40%, is likely to be finished within the specified time range.
He said, “Our rehabilitation is going on well and steadily according to the plan we have. We are planning to bring this plant to 60 percent nominal capacity by December 31st, 2024.
“Currently, we are heading towards 40 percent of rehabilitation. We remain committed to bringing back the plant at least 60 percent of our nominal capacity.
“The overall capacity of Kaduna Refinery is 110, 000 barels per day, but we are starting with only 60 percent of that. And in less than one year, we will attain the 110,000 capacity.
“So this initial plant operation is for 60 percent Nigerian crude and 50, 000 barrels of imported crude. Imported crude is mainly for lubricants and other petrochemical aspect of it.”
Senator Ubah, on his part, stated that the oversight visit was part of President Bola Tinubu’s collaborative effort with the National Assembly to guarantee that all of the country’s refineries are functional, allowing the country to stop importing petroleum products.
The Kaduna refinery was built in 1980 to deliver petroleum products to Nigeria’s northern area, and it has a crude oil production capacity of 110,000 barrels per day.
For many years, the Kaduna refinery, like its equivalents in Port Harcourt and Warri, has been out of production, forcing the country to rely largely on imported petroleum products.