The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced that the Port Harcourt Refinery has again resumed operations with a daily production of five million litres of petrol.
That despite the NNPC GMD Ibe Kachikwu’s warning that Nigeria incurs great loss to itself refining crude oil locally.
NNPC disclosed this during a monitoring exercise of fuel supply situation at petrol stations within Abuja and environs.
The Group General Manager, Public Affairs of NNPC, Garuba Deen Muhammad made these known while addressing journalists after the monitoring exercise.
With him was the Executive Director Supply and Distribution, Nigerian Petroleum Marketing Company (NPMC), Justine Ezeala.
NNPC informed that that the refinery which came back on a team last week now produces up to five million litres of petrol daily.
It stated that it expects the Kaduna refinery to come back on stream next week.
NNPC said it will take advantage of the spring switch in refining activities of European petroleum refiners to stockpile petrol into strategic reserves for Nigeria.
However, a report released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) detailed the actual average prices at which Nigerians bought petrol in the month of March.
It showed that out of the 36 States, petrol sold at government regulated price of N87 per litre in Borno State alone for the Month of March, 2016.
The report titled Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) price watch revealed that in Lagos state, a litre of petrol sold for N90 while it was an average of N104 in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
The report further showed Nassarawa State residents as paying the highest for petrol in the month of March 2016, with the product selling for an average of N166.67 per litre.
It was followed by Cross Rivers and Sokoto states where it sold for N160.36 and N160 a litre respectively.
Furthermore, a litre of petrol sold at N146 b, N133.70 N132.09 respectively, at oil rich states of Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers as against the official price of N87.
The report showed that the national average selling price for a litre of petrol as N135.09 in the month of March
It also revealed that the product sold for N114.98 in Ogun and N124.50 a litre in Ondo State.
Similarly, the product sold for N148 a litre in Abia and Akwa Ibom States.
While it sold for N156.67 in Bauchi, N151.67 in Gombe, 139.75 in Kaduna, 143.96 in Imo State, N155 in Ebonyi and 133.50 in Adamawa State.
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