PORT HARCOURT REFINERY KICK-OFF POSTPONED FOR SIXTH TIME
For the sixth time, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has postponed the date to commence operations at the Port Harcourt Refinery.
There were promises made by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, had in July, 2024 stated categorically that the refinery would come into operation in early August.
But this is second week in August and on Tuesday, the NNPC spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye said: “We are on course,” with the planned commencement of operations at the refinery.
Since December 2023, NNPC that is in charge of all the government refineries had given different dates that operations will begin at the refinery.
Recall that the 210,000 barrels per day Port Harcourt Refinery was said to have reached what the NNPC called mechanical completion of rehabilitation work in December.
It stated then that the facility would start refining 60,000 barrels of crude oil daily after last 2023 Christmas break.
But what Nigerians were told later in January by Kyari that the refinery was being tested and would be ready by the end of January.
However, during the second month of the year, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited was said to have completed the supply of 475,000 barrels of crude oil to the Port Harcourt refinery.
This raised the expectations of marketers that production was set to commence.
But in mid-March, Kyari said the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operations in two weeks, April.
However, the April deadline elapsed, shifting the hope to the end of July as stated by independent petroleum marketers.
But in mid-March, Kyari said the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operations in two weeks, April.
However, the April deadline elapsed, shifting the hope to the end of July as stated by independent petroleum marketers.
When in May, 2023, the NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Soneye, commented on the situation, he said regulatory approvals from international bodies were the only impediment stalling the operational commencement of the refinery.
“We have said that the mechanical completion has been done and every other thing is done. There is crude oil and all the pipes are working; we are only waiting for regulatory approvals.
"As I said, some of our materials and the things we use have to do with nuclear, and we need the nuclear authorities to give us approval to use all those things at the site.
“And some of these approvals come from bodies outside of Nigeria. Until they give us those approvals, we can’t begin operations.
“We are ready to go but if something happens without it, which would be another issue. Everything has been completed in terms of our work, and once we get those approvals, it will start operations.”
