Edo State Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited (ERPCL), operated by AIPCC Energy Limited, has raised concerns about the persistent lack of crude oil supply, despite being a fully functional refinery with a capacity of 1,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Sunday, Okeni, the company’s representative, in a statement on Sunday said that the Edo State refinery, located in Ologbo, Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area, has struggled to access the necessary crude oil despite existing supply agreements and a directive from President Bola Tinubu for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) to supply crude to refineries in Naira.
Okeni revealed that the refinery’s inability to secure crude oil has rendered it nearly non-operational, with production running at less than 10% of its installed capacity.
Despite several meetings and communications with NNPC over the past three years, the refinery has not received any crude allocations.
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“We have held several meetings with Shoreline and Heritage Oil and indicated our readiness to make modifications needed to offtake crude oil from the UPS, but no progress has been made to date,” the company added.
The company is now calling for urgent intervention from NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, to implement existing agreements and facilitate the supply of crude oil, warning that the continued neglect of smaller refineries could discourage local and foreign investment in Nigeria’s oil sector.
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