Some workers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) have stirred up a hornet’s nest over the claim by the company that it has officially commenced operations and refining of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) from the hitherto moribund Port Harcourt Refinery.
The staff revealed that contrary to the claim by NNPCL that it has started trucking out petrol from the Port Harcourt Refinery, the refinery has not started refining fuel, not to talk of trucking and dispensing same to members of the public.
The sources disclosed that NNPCL, in order to make Nigerians believe its alleged lie, bought “Cracked C5 petroleum resins” and blended it with other products including Naphtha to sell to the Nigerian public as though the refinery processed it.
According to the sources, the plant is functioning but it is the old one of 60,000bpd capacity of which cannot presently refine PMS, except diesel.
Sources added that the part of the refinery that produces PMS is yet to start.
Maintaining that the announcement made by NNPCL is false, the sources further said that NNPCL purchased the cracked 5 modified petroleum resins from an Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Limited (IEPL) based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
It could be recalled that the NNPCL had on Tuesday in a statement, backed by some videos of the company’s branded trucks, had announced that the Port Harcourt Refinery had become operational and that it had started trucking out PMS from the refinery.
The CEO of NNPCL, Mele Kyari had described the refinery as a significant milestone in Nigeria, saying the nation need not to be oil dependent again.
Kyari also claimed that trucks began loading petroleum products which include PMS, Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) or diesel and Household Kerosene (HHK) or Kerosene, while other product slates will be dispatched as well.