Oil marketers have started loading Automotive Gas Oil (diesel), and kerosene from the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, according to Sunday PUNCH.
The newspaper also reported that the dealers are demanding Premium Motor Spirit (PMS, also known as petrol) from the recently rehabilitated plant.
Under the management of NNPC Limited (NNPCL), the refinery came on stream last Monday after the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mallam Mele Kyari announced its resumption of operations during a tour of the facility.
The Chairman of the Delta State chapter of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Mr. Harry Okenini said on Friday that marketers had started lifting diesel and kerosene from the refinery.
He said: “Right now, there is no production of petrol. So, we are not loading PMS. We hope to load PMS soon. We can confirm to you that the plant is working although not at 100 per cent. And IPMAN, Warri depot unit, is waiting for the production of PMS so that we can load.
“For now, only the Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, and Dual Purpose Kerosene are being produced and loaded out for consumption.
“Hopefully, by February, we are expecting cooking gas, PMS, and other products to come out. As of now, the retail unit is only loading Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK)”.
The National Chairman of the Surface Tank and Kerosene Peddlers, a branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Comrade Israel Omokere stated that the refinery was in operation.
He said: “Hopefully the PMS will come on board. We are loading kerosene and AGO for now”.
There was scanty movement of trucks in and out of the refinery over the weekend. This is unlike the heyday of the refinery when it operated at full capacity.
Industry sources disclosed that there was more to be put in place by the Federal Government and the NNPCL for the refinery to commence full production of PMS.
From the main entrance to the refinery, it looked like nothing was going on. Security operatives stopped journalists from taking photographs on the premises.
Sources inside the refinery said only one of three units of the refinery was functional and producing diesel, gas, and kerosene.
A source said: “For now, only one unit is working at the refinery. You know there are three units; but only one is in operation, producing diesel, gas, and kerosene.
“The unit can’t give fuel for now. If the second unit starts working, it can produce PMS. It is the last unit to operate because it’s very big and complicated.
“If all units are working, we can load over 100 trucks daily, now it loaded about 50 trucks”.
