Ejiofor Alike
3 October 2008
Lagos — Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said yesterday that rupture of a feeder pipeline supplying crude oil to the 125,000 barrels per day to Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Plant has not disrupted the company's operation.
Group General Manager in charge of the NNPC's Public Affairs Division, Dr Levi Ajuonuma, told THISDAY yesterday that there was actually a pipeline rupture, but it had not affected operation of the refinery.
According to him, the Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC, was already fixing the pipeline, adding that work would reach advanced stage before the close of work today.
"The refinery is working. PPMC is working on the pipeline. The cause of the incident is not immediately known. It may be a normal rupture due to the integrity of the pipeline. By Friday(today), NNPC will assess the progress of work and issue official statement, but the damage cannot affect operation of the refinery," he said.
The refinery was shut down for two years in February 2006, when its main feeder pipeline was blown up by militants.
It was reopened eight months ago after the Federal Government awarded a contract of $52 million for repair of the Chanomi Creek Pipeline, the main feeder pipeline that supplies crude oil to Warri and Kaduna refineries.
Contract for the repair of the pipeline was awarded to a company owned by an indigene of Niger Delta, as part of strategies put in place by government to resolve the protracted crisis in the oil-rich region.
The initial value of the contract during the administration of former president Olusegun Obasanjo was estimated at about $100million, but after a renegotiation with the firm by the present administration, the amount was brought down to $52 million.
Inability of the refineries to work last year costs the country an estimated $4billion in importation of about 5 million tonnes of petroleum products.
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