The Guardian reports that The NNPC called for the closure of the refineries following the damages caused by the attack. This is coming at a time the country is trying to reduce importation of fuel and local refining is improving.
President Muhammadu Buhari has vowed that militants and vandals in the Niger Delta region would be dealt with. This is evident in the decision made by the minister of interior, General Abdulrahman Dambazau, to visit the region and get an on-the-spot assessment of the situation.
The two refineries began operation in 2015 to consolidate on the two refineries in Port Harcourt. According to the 2015 report, the poor performance of the refineries was due to vandalism.
Vanguard reports that Babatunde Fashola, the minister of power, works and housing said on Tuesday, January 19 that the country was losing $2.3 million a day due to the bombing of gas facilities by militants. It had also affected electricity production.
Ohi Alegbe, the group general manager, group public affairs division of NNPC said on Tuesday, January 19 that supply has to be stopped to the vandalised pipelines.
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“We have shut down flows for now, the military are on top of the matter.”
NNPC in a statement said that before the closure, the Port Harcourt refinery was processing more than 4.1 million litres of petrol per day while Kaduna was producing about 1.3 million litres. Warri was producing just over 1.4 million litres of petrol daily.
The company said: “In response to the unexpected setback, we have activated comprehensive remedial measures to sustain the prevailing stability in the supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country.”
Major General Alani Okunola,, the commander of Joint Task Force of Operation Pulo Shield in the Niger Delta vowed that the militants responsible for the bombing of the pipelines belonging to the Nigeria Gas Company, Chevron Nigeria Limited and NNPC would soon be nabbed.
Saharareporters however reported that according to sources in the oil industry, the refineries in Port Harcourt and Kaduna were not in operation although the Warri refinery was shut down.
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