Following attacks on pipelines that forced the closure in January, Nigeria's refineries are expected to resume operations before the end of February.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), stopped the flow of crude oil to the refineries after the attack on major pipelines feeding the plants in mid-January. The refineries were then closed afterwards.

According to the state oil company, the Port Harcourt refinery will resume its crude refining unit on Saturday after it receives the supply of crude by sea, followed by the recommencement in pipeline supplies.

“The Warri refinery has no crude. It will take close to 10 days to pile up crude stock and for Kaduna maybe we're another five days away after that,” Dennis Ajulu (photo), executive director of refining and technology at NNPC said.

He added that if there are no security restraints, the pipeline to the Warri plant can be renovated in four days, but they had estimated it to take more than that so crude was being supplied by sea instead. Meanwhile, the Kaduna refinery can only operate one out of its two crude refining units for the moment as it gets its feedstock through the Warri plant.

Apart from being abandoned for years, the refineries have always been faced with supply issues as a result of efforts by vandals to steal oil through pipeline taps. This however, made NNPC shift to expensive crude supplies by sea. This supplies cost over $7 a barrel, the Nations reports.

Anita Fatunji