REFINERIES UNABLE TO ACCOUNT FOR CRUDE

The Warri, PortHarcourt and Kaduna refineries have not been able to account for 258,810 barrels of crude, which they received for processing in April and May this year, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has disclosed in the Petroleum information report. The report obtained on Friday specifically indicated that the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited, and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited, which received the crude, could not account for the supplies for the period. As of Friday, the price of crude oil was $47.96 per barrel. Going by this, the cost of the 258,810 barrels of crude oil supplied to the refineries in the two months will therefore be $12.41m. The NNPC stated in the report, that the refineries, which received 204,720 barrels of crude in April, failed to churn out any refined product. It also said that the only refinery, WRPC, which got 54,090 barrels of crude in May, did not process anything either for the month. Therefore, the total volume of crude oil supplied to the three refineries in April and May was given as 258,810 barrels, but nothing was recorded as processed petroleum products by the firms during the period. For instance, the report stated that in April, the three refineries received 204,720 barrels of crude oil and had total opening stock of 1.164 million barrels of crude. In the same month, the total crude available for processing was given as 1.369 million barrels but nothing was processed by the national oil firms in April, the NNPC report stated. Although only the WRPC received crude, 54,090 barrels in May, the Warri refinery and Port Harcourt refinery had combined opening stock of 484,240 barrels of crude for the month under review. The volume of crude that was available to them for processing was 538,330 barrels, out of which nothing was processed. “The PHRC and WRPC had an opening stock of 484,240 barrels, total crude oil available for processing was 538,330 barrels out of which zero barrel was processed. The respective average capacity utilization during the month was 0.00%, 0.00% and 0.00% for the KRPC, PHRC and WRPC, respectively.” It noted that “with an opening stock of 1.164 million barrels, the total crude oil available for processing (in March) was 1.164 million barrels out of which zero barrel was processed. The respective average capacity utilization during the month was 0.00%, 0.00% and 0.00% for the KRPC, PHRC and WRPC, respectively.” The corporation, on many occasions in the past, had stated that the inability of the refineries to process crude was due to the turnaround maintenance being carried out on them. However,Portharcourt and Warri refineries were recently re-steamed after a nine month rehabilitation program carried out by its engineers and technicians. The new management of the NNPC, however, stated that the refineries were now processing crude oil, although none of them was working at optimum capacity. The corporation said that Port harcourt and Warri had commenced preliminary refining of petroleum products after a successful test-run, adding that while the PHRC was ramping up its operation to about 60 per cent of its 210,000 barrels per day capacity, the WRPC production was projected to hit 80 per cent of its installed 125,000bpd capacity. The NNPC said the Port Harcourt refinery was projected to boost the nation’s local refining capacity with a product yield of five million litres of petrol per day, while that of Warri would contribute 3.5 million litres of petrol. It is pertinent for us to ensure the sustainability of these measures, and to ensure we find a lasting solution to the hemorrhaging of our national asset. Lets discuss!