Weeks after the Port Harcourt Refinery started operations, the 125,000 barrels-per-day Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) in Delta State has commenced operations.

This was disclosed on Monday by the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Malam Mele Kyari.

Kyari and some top management staff of NNPCL were on a tour of the refinery when he disclosed this.

Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), was among those who toured the facility.

The refinery was inaugurated in 1978 when General Olusegun Obasanjo was Head of State.

Kyari said: “We are taking you through our plant. This plant is running. Although it is not 100 per cent complete, we are still in the process.

“Many people think these things are not real. They think real things are not possible in this country. We want you to see that this is real”.

According to him, many Nigerians doubted the project’s feasibility, but the plant’s current shape proves its success.

The facility, located in Ekpan, Uwvie and Ubeji in Warri, produces 13,000 tons of polypropylene and 18,000 tons of carbon black annually.