The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has debunked reports in some sections of the media that the newly resuscitated old Port Harcourt refinery has been shut down.
A statement by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye in Abuja on Saturday, said the refinery is “fully operational”.
The 60,000 barrels per day capacity old PH refinery came back on stream two months ago after years of being shut down.
“We wish to clarify that such reports are totally false as the refinery is fully operational as verified a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC,” the statement said in part.
The statement added that preparation for the day’s loading operation is currently ongoing.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri and his entourage during an inspection tour of the rehabilitation work progress at the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Ltd. plant, in Port Harcourt recently
“Members of the public are advised to discountenance such reports as they are the figments of the imagination of those who want to create artificial scarcity and rip-off Nigerians,” Soneye added.
Three years ago, the Federal Government approved $1.5 billion (1.2 billion euros) to repair the plant, one of the country’s biggest refineries which was shut down in 2019.
Despite being one of the largest producers of crude oil, Nigeria has over the years relied on the importation of petroleum products owing to a lack of local refining capacity.
Nigeria swaps crude worth billions of dollars for petrol that it had subsidised for years to keep prices cheap for its domestic market. Fuel imports and subsidies caused a huge drain on foreign exchange when Nigeria was struggling with dwindling oil revenues and foreign currency shortages.
But in September 2024, the Dangote refinery began the production of petrol, months after it said the plant had started operation.
While giving an update, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari said the 150,000 barrels per day new Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) complex will come on stream by mid-2025.
Kyari also noted that the old refinery complex which started full operations can feed 200,000 trucks with various products per day.
He said the major challenge that plagued the timely resuscitation of the complex was ensuring a complete overhaul of the machines which are brand new.
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