Fuel
60 days to FG’s Dec deadline, pressure mounts on Port-Harcourt, Warri Refineries
Pressure is mounting on managements of both Port-Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC) and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) over the Federal Government’s December deadline to produce petrol to stem the spiralling price of the product in the country.
Indeed, the Managing Director of PHRC, Engr. Ibrahim Onoja, and the Acting Managing Director of WRPC, Mrs Usua Ofonmbuk Edet, are currently working at break-neck speed to meet the December deadline set by the Federal Government for the refineries to resume full production.
The Federal Government has said the December deadline for Port Harcourt and Warri refineries to resume operations remains unchanged.
The government has insisted that the deadline for the two strategic business units of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) to resume operations is sacrosanct.
The December timeline for the local refineries to resume operations was one of the promises made by President Bola Tinubu after he cancelled the oil subsidy regime in his inauguration speech on May 29, 2023, causing the price of PMS to spiral more than three-fold, from about N194 litre to N617 a litre, with the attendant hyperinflation and hardships on the masses.
Nigerians believe the local refining would help reduce and stabilise the price of petrol and shield local consumers from the fluctuations and vagaries of the international oil market.
Consequently, the Federal Government said the managements of the two plants would be held responsible if their establishments failed to meet the December deadline for local refining.
The two plants would kick-start operations in December by locally refining 160 barrels of crude oil per day.