Kaduna Refinery eyes December restart at 60% production capacity

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced plans to restore the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company (KRPC) to 60 percent of its production capacity by the end of 2024.

Mustafa Sugungun, the managing director of KRPC, revealed this during an oversight visit to the refinery by members of the Senate Adhoc Committee on Petroleum Downstream, led by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.

The refinery, which has been non-operational for years due to maintenance issues, is undergoing rehabilitation, to resume partial production by the year’s end.

Sugungun stated that the current rehabilitation progress stands at 40%, and efforts are being made to ensure the completion of the project within the set timeframe.

“Our rehabilitation is progressing steadily according to plan. We aim to bring the plant to 60% nominal capacity by December 31st, 2024. The overall capacity of the Kaduna Refinery is 110,000 barrels per day, and we are commencing operations at 60% of that capacity,” Sugungun explained.

Senator Ubah emphasised that the oversight visit was part of a collaborative effort between President Bola Tinubu and the National Assembly to revive all of Nigeria’s refineries, with the ultimate goal of ending the importation of petroleum products.

The Kaduna refinery, established in 1980 to supply petroleum products to Nigeria’s Northern region, has been inactive for years, contributing to the country’s reliance on imported petroleum products.