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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has shut down the Kaduna and Warri refineries following the attack on some oil and gas pipelines in Gbaramatu area of Delta State by suspected militants at the weekend.
The Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Ohi Alegbe, on Tuesday confirmed that the company has shut down crude oil flows to the two pipelines due to the recent attacks on the facilities. “We have shut down flows for now, the military are on top of the matter,” he said, without offering details of the attacks.
Some unidentified gunmen had at the weekend bombed some oil and gas facilities in Gbaramatu, allegedly in protest against the reported arrest warrant issued on the former militant leader, Chief Government Ekpemupolo (a.k.a Tompolo). No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Joint Task Force Commander of Operation Pulo Shield in the Niger Delta, Major General Alani Okunola, said the task force was closing in on the militants that blew up the oil and gas pipelines belonging to the Nigeria Gas Company, Chevron Nigeria Limited and NNPC.
The nation has four refineries, in Port Harcourt (old and new), Warri and Kaduna, which according to the last NNPC reports, produced about seven million barrels of crude in 11 months in 2015. This poor performance was linked to sabotage and vandalism.
Government has blamed the development for its inability to reduce fuel importation at a time when the local refining seems to be gaining momentum.