(Ecofin Agency) - The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that the combined operational performance of Nigeria’s three refineries based on capacity utilization, was below 15% in 2016.

The refineries namely, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC), Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), got 445,000 barrels of crude oil per day for the 12-month period, but refined 13.75% of this volume on average.

“The adverse performance was due to crude pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta region coupled with ongoing refineries revamp.” NNPC said.

An analysis of NNPC’s latest report revealed that the WRPC was idle for five months (January, February, July, November and December) last year. Similarly, the KRPC was dormant for six months (February, March, June, July, November and December) while the PHRC was able to process crude oil for only 11 months with the exception of September.

Anita Fatunji