𝗕𝗬: 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗢𝗷𝗲𝗶 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗕𝗼𝘅.𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘂𝘀 𝘃𝗶𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽 𝗼𝗻 08038785262
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲, 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐮𝐦 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧(𝐍𝐍𝐏𝐂), 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐭 60% 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 75,000 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲’𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐞 ,𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐭𝐡𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬.
The science behind fractional distillation, the core process of refining crude oil, is straightforward. When crude oil is heated, the first products to emerge are refinery gases, followed by petrol (gasoline), naphtha, kerosene, and diesel. Petrol is the second product in this sequence and arguably the most critical for everyday Nigerians. It powers vehicles, small businesses, and the generators that provide electricity to millions of homes. Despite its importance and the fact that it is one of the earliest fractions to be collected, petrol production has been relegated to the sidelines by the 𝐍𝐍𝐏𝐂 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲.
𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝,𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥, 𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐡𝐚.
𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬. 𝐃𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐥 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲-𝐝𝐮𝐭𝐲 𝐯𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐩𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 ,𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. Naphtha, used in petrochemical industries, has limited direct utility for the average Nigerian. Meanwhile, petrol scarcity continues to plague the nation, forcing citizens to endure the exorbitant prices, and the economic ripple effects of limited availability.
This misalignment between the refinery’s production focus and the public’s needs is a matter of grave concern. With petrol being one of the easiest fractions to produce during refining, why has the Warri Refinery chosen to deprioritize it? 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐞𝐱𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.?
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝐍𝐍𝐏𝐂 must provide answers. It is unacceptable that a refinery with such significant capacity is not prioritizing the production of petrol—a product that directly affects the lives and livelihoods of millions. Nigerians deserve transparency about how these decisions are made and why they seem to ignore the realities faced by ordinary citizens.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹 𝘀𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆, but this will only happen if its operations align with the needs of the people. It is time for the leadership of the 𝐍𝐍𝐏𝐂 to reassess its priorities, focus on the production of petrol, and ensure that its operations truly serve the public interest. Anything less is a betrayal of its mandate and a disservice to Nigerians.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹 𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘆. 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆-𝗡𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿.