Despite official claims that Nigeria's newly refurbished refineries were making profits and helping to combat fuel scarcity, reports have learned that the Warri refinery in Delta State remains dormant.
According to SaharaReporters, the Warri refinery in Delta state is still dormant and not functional which is contrary to media reports that productions have started.
The online news platform describes the state of the refinery as a "drainpipe and a symbol of the rot in Nigeria’s opaque and shady oil sector".
Reports reveal the Warri refinery has been riddened with huge debts which could force a possible shut down very soon. Two daily reports received by SaharaReporters state that the refinery operates at a huge loss that could cost the Nigerian government close to N1.2 trillion per year. The documents reveal that the refinery barely produces 2.3 million liters of gasoline, a mere drop in the bucket compared to the 50 million liters required to daily fuel consumption across Nigeria.
The refinery processes about 11,865 metric tonnes of crude oil. The crude is supplied via trucks and vessels instead of through pipelines, which remain significantly damaged due to the activities of armed militants in the Niger Delta region. The reports obtained by our correspondent also disclosed that several units for processing crude at the Warri facility were currently shutdown.
Part of the report revealed that, on August 11, 2015, a vessel MT Bade offloaded more than 1,200 metric tonnes of imported fuel at the refinery to supplement the facility’s low production output.
Part of the report showed that one pipeline for pumping diesel from the refinery had been shut down because of vandalization at Adeje, Delta State. Pipeline ‘2C’ was also shut down, with a crude oil supply source called Escravos Line remained suspended. A huge crude oil supply line, UQCC, which is supposed to be protected by ex-militant commander, Government Ekpemupolo (alias Tompolo) also remained suspended.
Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and former Petroleum Minister, Diezani Alison Madueke, gave approval for Ocean Marine Tankers (OMT) Limited, founded by Captain Hosa Okunbor, Tunde Ayeni and Mr. Ekpemupolo (Tompolo), to take over delivery of crude to Warri Refinery.
A second report obtained dated August 18 2015 by SaharaReporters showed that the Warri refinery had shut down its Crude Distillation Unit (CDU). The CDU is the first stop in the processing of crude and is the refinery’s main distillation unit and engine room. “Once the CDU is down, technically the refinery is down,” said one inside source.
Other dysfunctional units at the refinery include the Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU) and the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (FCCU). An engineer disclosed that technicians at the facility had tried for more than one week to start up the FCCU without success. “The FCCU is the unit that increases the yield of premium motor spirit,” he said. “If it’s working, the refinery should be able to produce an additional two million liters of gasoline per day.”
Two sources in the oil sector told SaharaReporters that no single repair had been done in a long time by the refinery’s management.