In the latest operations report by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, three Nigeria’s refineries under the management could not refine crude oil.
This is coming amid concerns by the Nigeria Labour Congress over the static state of the facilities.
The report said that the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, Port Harcourt Refining Company and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company processed no crude oil in January this year.
Although this was attributed to the rehabilitation of the facilities, findings showed that the refineries had remained dormant in terms of crude oil refining, as all-through 2020 their cumulative capacity utilisation was also zero.
“In January 2021, the three refineries processed no crude and combined yield efficiency is zero per cent owing largely to ongoing rehabilitation works in the refineries.
“The declining operational performance is attributable to ongoing revamping of the refineries, which is expected to further enhance capacity utilisation once completed”, the oil form said.
Further analysis of the report showed that the facilities also posted losses in the review month, recording a cumulative loss of N5.37bn.
A breakdown of their individual losses showed that KRPC lost N1.81bn, PHRC posted N2.34bn loss, while WRPC recorded the least revenue loss of N1.23bn.
However, the NLC expressed concern over the comatose state of the refineries but stated that its position was that all the facilities should be revamped and put to efficient use.
The union said, “The NEC observed that the sum budgeted for the revamping of the Port Harcourt refinery appears to be on the high side considering earlier proposals for an overhaul of Nigeria’s refineries estimated at about $450m.
“The NEC reasoned that what is paramount to Nigerians is that the refineries are brought back to life in a manner that must demonstrate value for money.”
It added, “The NEC called on the government, in line with the agreement reached with labour on September 28, 2020 to take very reasonable measures to ensure that all the four public refineries are rehabilitated and brought back fully on stream in good time.”