News
NNPC Shuts Down Kaduna, Port Harcourt Refineries Over Pipeline Vandalism
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Wednesday, said it had shut two refineries in the southern city of Port Harcourt and Kaduna in the north because sabotage to crude pipelines. The plants were shut on Sunday because of “breaches” to the Bonny-Okrika supply line to Port Harcourt and the Escravos-Warri pipeline to Kaduna, the company said in an emailed statement.
Nigeria’s minister of power Babatunde Fashola said on Tuesday the country was losing some $2.3 million (2.1 million euros) a day to attacks on gas facilities and lost electricity production. The military said separately it would no longer tolerate the sabotage and blamed it on “criminal elements who are bent on destroying the nation’s strategic assets”.
Supporters of former Niger Delta militant Government Ekpemupolo, also known as “Tompolo”, are believed to have been behind a series of strikes on pipelines in Delta state at the weekend. A court in Lagos last Thursday ordered his arrest on theft and money laundering charges totalling more than $175 million (161 million euros). Despite being Africa’s number one oil producer, Nigeria has relied on imports of petroleum products because of a lack of domestic refining capacity. Fuel shortages are commonplace.
But as part of moves to overhaul the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the government has been working to improve capacity at the country’s under-performing state-owned refineries. The four facilities in Port Harcourt, the Delta town of Warri and Kaduna have a combined capacity to process 445,000 barrels of crude per day. Throughout last year they were operating at just a fraction of that.
The NNPC said in the statement that before the closure, the Port Harcourt refinery was processing more than 4.1 million litres of petrol per day while Kaduna was producing about 1.3 million litres. Warri was “still on stream” and producing just over 1.4 million litres of petrol daily, it added. “In response to the unexpected setback, we have activated comprehensive remedial measures to sustain the prevailing stability in the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country,” the company said.
“Who did this to you?” – Video of a pregnant lady flaunting her massive baby bump sparks mixed reactions online
DHQ hails Simon Ekpa’s arrest and hopes he will be extradited to Nigeria to face justice
“God is still in the business of doing wonders, please keep trusting God” – Emotional moment gospel singer Yinka Alaseyori serenades actress Dayo Amusa who gave birth to her first child at 41 years (Video)
Diddy claims prosecutors showed judge edited Cassie video to make him look dangerous
“Tinubu Has A Better Policy Document Than Peter Obi, Atiku” – Doyin Okupe says
Wizkid’s sister blows hot after being dragged for comparing brother to Albert Einstein
Five soldiers k!lled, 10 wounded and four missing as Boko Haram attacks troops in Borno
“FC dey do too much” – Video of a Wizkid die-hard fan bathing with a JBL speaker as he dances to the singer’s hit song “Dance” stirs the internet (Watch)
-
Celebrity Gossip & Gist1 day agoWizkid’s sister blows hot after being dragged for comparing brother to Albert Einstein
-
Love & Relationship1 day agoLady cries out as she discovers her boyfriend of 11 months secretly infected her with HIV (Video)
-
Foreign1 day ago“US approving Ukraine to use missiles against Russia a big mistake” – Turkish president Erdogan
-
Celebrity Gossip & Gist1 day agoSeveral men accuse Diddy of r@p!ng them @n@lly in new wave of lawsuits