Port Harcourt Refinery Begins Operation

The Port Harcourt Refinery Company has finally started producing fuel, with the plant releasing over 1 million liters of refined products on Tuesday.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited unveiled the refinery on Tuesday, saying the old facility, which has a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, had been revamped and upgraded with modern equipment.

It said the newly rehabilitated complex of the old Port Harcourt refinery is currently operating at a refining capacity of 70 per cent of its installed capacity.

NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, said the bigger refinery in the Eleme complex that houses the plants, with a 150,000-capacity, had yet to be completed.

Kyari said the bigger plant, including the Warri and Kaduna refineries, would come on stream later. However, he declined to give a timeline because President Bola Tinubu warned him from doing so after several postponements.

“We will deliver all the other projects. We are not going to give a timeline as he (Tinubu) has directed,” the GCEO said while appreciating the President for his support.

During the unveiling of the refinery, NNPC officials conducted stakeholders around the facility where they took samples of petrol, diesel, and kerosene.

The stakeholders who included marketers and the regulators also witnessed the loading of trucks at the gantry.

It was stated that about 200 trucks of petrol would be released into the Nigerian market daily.

The Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, expressed satisfaction with the development.

According to him, with the Dangote refinery and Port Harcourt refinery producing, there will be fuel availability all over the country.

Ahmed also said the rehabilitation of Warri and Kaduna refineries would make Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products instead of a net importer it has been for years.

The NMDPRA chief executive stated that the refinery would give people choices and promote healthy competition in the downstream sector.

He said the prices of petroleum products would come down due to enough fuel supply in the local market.

“Products will be available nationwide. What is important is that there will be competition and choices. All we’ve been talking about when I spoke in July was about choices, competition, availability, and affordability.

“We will see the prices of petroleum products coming down because there is ample supply. We hope the refinery will continue to sustain the current level of production. We are hoping that the second part of the refinery will come up very soon,” he stated.

Petrol production controversy

There were claims later in the day that the unveiled plant was not producing petrol, as reports had it that the refinery was only blending the product.

Sources in the oil sector argued that the plant lacks a catalytic platform unit to produce petrol, stressing that it could only refine crude for other products at the moment.

“There was no and cannot be any PMS produced from the NNPC Port Harcourt (refinery) until the refinery’s catalytic platform unit is installed and made operational! This has not happened!” a top official at the petroleum ministry, who spoke in confidence due to the nature of the matter, stated.

This was, however, countered by NNPC in another statement, where it also mentioned that plans were ongoing to ramp up production capacity to 90 per cent while dismissing claims that the refinery was not producing products.

The NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, said, “For clarity, the old Port Harcourt Refinery is currently operating at 70 per cent of its installed capacity, with plans to ramp up to 90 per cent.”

The statement further explained that diesel and Pour Fuel Oil would be the highest output from the refinery, with a daily capacity of 1.5 million litres and 2.1 million litres, respectively.

This is followed by a daily output of Straight-Run Gasoline (Naphtha) blended into 1.4 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), 900,000 litres of kerosene, and low-pour fuel oil of 2.1 million litres.

The NNPCL further confirmed that its petroleum products were blended with crack C5 to meet the required specifications.

It also noted that the blending plant was utilised with global standards, as no single unit can produce gasoline that fully complies with the required standards.

“It is worth noting that the refinery incorporates crack C5, a blending component from our sister company, Indorama Petrochemicals (formerly Eleme Petrochemicals), to produce gasoline that meets required specifications.

“Blending is a standard practice in refineries globally, as no single unit can produce gasoline that fully complies with any country’s standards without such processes. Additionally, we have made substantial progress on the new Port Harcourt Refinery, which will begin operations soon without prior announcements.”

Marketers await supply

Meanwhile, petroleum marketers said they are waiting to lift fuel from the state-owned refinery soon.

According to them, lifting products would be seamless because they are already customers of the NNPC.

Speaking at the refinery complex yesterday, the Publicity Secretary of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Joseph Obele, commended the NNPC and Tinubu for the feat.

Obele described the Port Harcourt refinery as a dream come true, saying this has proved naysayers wrong.

“It is a dream come true. A lot of people have been asking me if it was a rumour or true. We commend the NNPC and the president for this. We now have hope that marketers will be loading at the Port Harcourt refinery,” Obele stressed.

He spoke further in a statement, “PETROAN was fully on the ground with National President Dr Billy Gillis Hary and other national officers of PETROAN at the ceremonial commencement at Alesa Eleme and indeed the smile on people’s faces was a clear indication of joy arising the commencement of loading after a six years dormant state.

“We reaffirm our commitment to synergising with the management of NNPC Retail and other stakeholders in ensuring that products lifted at the Port Harcourt refinery depot are well distributed to all the nooks and crannies of the nation at the right time with the right price.”

Also, the spokesperson of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, said this was a welcome development.

Ukadike said this was the beauty of deregulation, which he said has now removed monopolies, giving marketers two sources to get petroleum products.

The IPMAN publicity scribe noted that marketers are now the beautiful bride to the two refineries.

“IPMAN members are delighted about the Port Harcourt refinery. Right now we have double sources of petroleum products. The issue of monopoly is gone. The deregulation competition has started. We the Independent marketers are now the beautiful bride. Anywhere the product is cheap, we will buy it. The competition has started and we are happy. Activities around the host community have picked up. And the congestion in Ibeju-Lekki and Apapa will be reduced,” he submitted.

In his words, the Chief Executive Officer of Matrix Energy, Abdulkabir Aliu, who the NNPC boss described as the lender for the project, said the love of the country was why the company released funds for the project.

Aliu recalled that some individuals have told Matrix Energy to write off the debt when it seemed the refinery was not going to come back to life.

“We believe in this country and this is why we put our money down. Some people have told us to write the money off,“ the Matrix Energy boss said as he congratulated the NNPC.

The Port Harcourt refinery would be the second petrol-producing refinery after the Dangote refinery commenced PMS production in September.

At the moment, the Port Harcourt plant is the only plant that could partially compete with the 650,000-capacity Dangote refinery.

It was gathered that marketers have not been able to lift products directly from the Dangote refinery.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu is seeking speedy completion of Warri and Kaduna refineries.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President (Information & Strategy), Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu extended his heartfelt congratulations to the NNPC on the successful revitalisation of the refinery.

“The President acknowledges the pivotal role of former President Muhammadu Buhari in initiating the comprehensive rehabilitation of all our refineries and expresses gratitude to the African Export-Import Bank for its confidence in financing this critical project.

“Furthermore, President Tinubu commends the leadership of NNPC Limited’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Mele Kyari, whose unwavering dedication and commitment were instrumental in overcoming challenges to achieve this milestone.

“With the successful revival of the Port Harcourt refinery, President Tinubu urges NNPC Limited to expedite the scheduled reactivation of both the second Port Harcourt refinery and the Warri and Kaduna refineries,” the statement read.

He said these efforts will significantly enhance domestic production capacity alongside the contributions of privately-owned refineries and make Nigeria a major energy hub, with the gas sector also enjoying unprecedented attention by the administration.

“The President underscores his administration’s determination to repair the nation’s refineries, aiming to eradicate the disheartening perception of Nigeria as a major crude oil producer that lacks the ability to refine its own resources for domestic consumption.

“Highlighting the values of patience, integrity, and accountability in the rebuilding of the nation’s infrastructure, President Tinubu calls upon individuals, institutions, and citizens entrusted with responsibilities to maintain focus and uphold trust in their service to the nation.

“In alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda focused on shared economic prosperity for all, the President reaffirms his administration’s commitment to achieving energy sufficiency, enhancing energy security, and boosting export capacity for Nigeria,” the statement concluded.