Nigeria’s refineries would resume refining crude oil for local consumption within the month of April to help address the current fuel scarcity, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said.
Two of the refineries, Port Harcourt and Kaduna were shut simultaneously late January after the Bonny-Okrika crude supply line to Port Harcourt and the Escravos-Warri crude supply line to the Kaduna refinery suffered breaches.
But speaking to reporters after inspecting some petrol stations in Abuja Sunday, the Group Executive Director/ Chief Operating Officer (COO), NNPC (Downstream), Mr. Henry Ikem Obih said all of the refineries are at various stages of startup.
He said, “In terms of moving them closer to their optimal yield, there is a lot of work going on through the great work done by our engineers. We are hoping that within this month of April we would also have locally produced fuel as part of what people are buying at the pump.”
On what the Corporation has done in the last four days to improve the fuel situation, Obih said the Corporation has taken delivery of four vessels of refined petrol that are at various stages of distribution across the country.
On the other measures the NNPC has put in place to ensure there are no gaps in the supply chain in the second quarter of 2016, Obih said the NNPC is working with some of the best refining and trading companies around the world to help source fuel in a timely manner.
“We are working extremely hard to ensure that we eliminate the queues. What we have seen today is encouraging but we are still not there. We will be there when you go into a couple of filling stations and you are able to buy fuel and drive away,” he stated.
The inspection by the COO covered major and independent retail outlets within the centre of Abuja. At A.Y.M Shafa located at Apo, Gudu Market, the team queried the station for not discharging the product from the truck.