The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has confirmed that normalcy has been restored after a minor fire incident occurred at the Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited on Friday.
The fire incident, which occurred at the refinery’s cooling tower, was caused by the ongoing welding activity at the top of the cooling tower, NNPCL management said in a statement.
“This afternoon, at about 15:02hrs, there was a minor fire incident at the cooling tower of Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC),” the national oil company said on Friday.
“The fire which occurred as a result of ongoing welding activity at the top of the cooling tower will not affect the refinery rehabilitation project delivery schedule,” it said.
The company said safety officers at the refinery acted promptly and put out the fire at about 15:30hrs and that normalcy has since been restored.
NNPCL said it would continue to adhere to the best safety standards in all its business operations.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government had last month, through the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, promised that the Warri refinery would commence operations by the end of the first quarter of 2024. The government had also promised that the Port Harcourt refinery would come on board by the end of this year, while the Kaduna refinery would commence operations towards the end of next year.
