The Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL has announced a date for the Kaduna Refinery to begin operation.

According to NNPCL, the rehabilitation of the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company, KRPC, would be completed by the end of 2024.

The Managing Director of KRPC, Mustafa Sugungun, made this disclosure on Monday during an oversight visit to the refinery by members of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Petroleum Downstream led by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah.

He pointed out that the 110,000-barrel-per-day refinery will start producing at 60 per cent capacity by the end of the year, while full production will take place subsequently.

According to him, the rehabilitation work, which is presently at 40 per cent, is expected to be completed within the stipulated time frame

He said, “Our rehabilitation is going on well and steadily according to the plan we have. We are planning to bring this plant to 60 per cent nominal capacity by December 31st, 2024.

“Currently, we are heading towards 40 percent of rehabilitation. We remain committed to bringing back the plant at least 60 percent of our nominal capacity,” he said.

On his part, Ubah said that the oversight visit was part of the collaborative efforts of the President Bola Tinubu administration and the National Assembly to ensure that all the nation’s refineries are brought back to life, and consequently enable the country to end the importation of petroleum products.

The Kaduna refinery was established in 1980 to supply petroleum products to Nigeria’s Northern region, with a capacity of producing 110,000 barrels per day of crude oil.

For many years, the Kaduna refinery, just like its counterparts in Port Harcourt and Warri, has not been functional, leaving the country to rely heavily on imported petroleum products.