The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) has responded to Timothy Mgbere, an Alesa community leader in Rivers State, who accused the petroleum company of misleading Nigerians about the functionality of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
In a statement issued by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, on Friday, November 29, the NNPCL categorically dismissed Mgbere’s allegations as baseless and unfounded.
Timothy Mgbere, identifying himself as a leader of the Alesa community, claimed in a Thursday interview that the NNPC’s announcement of commencing petrol production at the Port Harcourt Refinery was false.
Reacting to this accusation, Soneye described Mgbere’s assertions as a “crass display of ignorance,” stating that the company felt compelled to respond to set the record straight and avoid misleading the public.
The statement partly reads:
“The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has been drawn to a video clip by one Timothy Mgbere, a self-acclaimed ‘community person,’ who alleged that the widely-publicized commencement of operations at the Port Harcourt Refinery and the subsequent truck-out of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) earlier in the week were false.
“Ordinarily, we would not have bothered to reply, considering that his assertions were riddled with ignorance, consistent with his claim of being a ‘community person’ who evidently lacks an understanding of the workings of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
“However, to ensure the public is not misled, we are compelled to clarify.”
Addressing the operations of the refinery, Soneye explained, “He (Mgbere) alleged that the old Port Harcourt Refinery was only operating skeletally and not processing PMS. His so-called evidence was that PMS truck-out occurred at the gantry of the new Port Harcourt Refinery rather than the old refinery.
“This claim reveals his limited knowledge of refinery operations. The old and new Port Harcourt Refineries have long been integrated with a shared terminal for product loading. They utilize common utilities, including power and storage tanks. This means that storage tanks and the loading gantry, which he claimed belong solely to the new refinery, are used for products from both facilities.”
Soneye further debunked Mgbere’s claims, describing them as deeply flawed:
“So, how could the alleged ‘old stock’ from the old refinery move to the loading gantry of the new refinery for a show? According to his logic, old stock can be moved to the new refinery’s loading gantry, but newly produced PMS from the old refinery cannot. This argument is nonsensical and highlights a glaring lack of understanding.”
Providing additional context, Soneye stated that the refinery’s nameplate capacity is 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day and that it is currently operating at 90% throughput, producing Straight-Run Gasoline (Naptha) blended into 1.4 million liters of PMS, alongside other products like diesel and kerosene.
He urged Nigerians to disregard Mgbere’s claims, and concluded by saying “We call on the general public to disregard the allegations of this self-acclaimed ‘community person,’ which are clearly rooted in mischief and blatant ignorance.”
It should be recalled that on Tuesday, the NNPC announced the commencement of production at the Port Harcourt Refinery following the successful revamp of the facility, as confirmed by Soneye.
