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The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has raised alarm over the prolonged delay in rehabilitating the Kaduna Refinery, calling on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to provide a definite timeline for its completion.
Despite several government assurances, the 110,000 barrels-per-day Kaduna Refinery remains non-operational, compounding Nigeria’s persistent fuel supply challenges and escalating logistics costs across the northern regions.
In a recent statement, PETROAN criticized the repeated project delays and demanded greater transparency and accountability from NNPC. The association stressed the importance of completing the Kaduna facility alongside the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries to boost national petroleum product sufficiency and ease economic hardship.
“The Kaduna Refinery is critical for improving fuel distribution in the northern region and reducing the high cost of transportation from southern depots. Its continued inactivity is economically damaging,” PETROAN stated.
Billy Gillis Harry, National President of PETROAN, noted that the delay is unacceptable and urged President Bola Tinubu to intervene.
He recommended the formation of a high-level task force including key industry stakeholders such as NMDPRA, NUPRC, PENGASSAN, and NUPENG to resolve bottlenecks and ensure the refinery’s swift completion.
Additionally, PETROAN called on NNPC to appoint a substantive Managing Director for the Kaduna Refinery to provide leadership and accelerate progress. The group warned that unless urgent measures are taken, the country risks further inflation and worsening energy insecurity.
“The borrowed funds for the refinery projects are substantial. Nigerians deserve to know where that money is going and when these vital national assets will start operating,” the statement concluded.
