NNPCL speaks on fire outbreak at Warri Refinery

There was a minor fire outbreak on Friday afternoon at the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) said.

The incident occurred at the refinery cooling tower, the oil company said in a statement Friday night.

“This afternoon, at about 15:02 hrs, there was a minor fire incident at the cooling tower of Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC),” the NNPCL said.

The oil company said the fire which occurred as a result of ongoing welding activity at the top of the cooling tower will not affect the refinery rehabilitation project delivery schedule.

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“NNPC Limited safety officers at the refinery acted immediately and put out the fire at about 15:30 hrs; normalcy has since been restored.

“NNPC Limited will continue to adhere to the best safety standards in all its business operations,” it said.

The 125,000 barrels per day (bpd)-capacity of Warri Refinery is one of Nigeria’s four dysfunctional refineries that have produced no fuel for years leaving the country to rely on imported petroleum products.

In August 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved the award of the contract for the rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna Refineries at the combined total sum of $1.5 billion.

The Nigerian government had in August assured that the Warri refinery will come on stream by the end of the first quarter of next year, and Kaduna will also come on board towards the end of next year while the Port Harcourt refinery will become functional by December.