NNPCL Nears Completion of Port Harcourt Refinery: Over 90% Ready for Operations

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has said Port Harcourt Refinery is over 90 percent complete and will soon be fully operational.

Speaking on Monday in Rivers State, during a guided tour of the 150,000 barrels-per-day refinery by representatives of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), NNPC’s Group Executive Vice President, Downstream, Isiyaku Abdullahi, disclosed that the refinery is nearing operational readiness, with a completion rate exceeding 90%.

He added that the revamp of the facility would soon be complete.

However, Abdullahi refrained from providing a specific date for the refinery’s operational commencement.

He stated, “This asset is under rehabilitation or an upgrade. There is an established process, so when the rehabilitation is completed, it will start running, and it’s a state-of-the-art facility compared to any refinery in the world.

“From the contractors’ view and from the report they sent to us, the refinery is over 90% completed and will be finished as soon as possible.”

NNPCL assured Nigerians that with the two refineries in Port Harcourt, which have a combined capacity of over 210,000 barrels per day, the country will not only enjoy value for money but will also have sufficient petrol, with enough surplus for export.

Abdullahi stated: “We are following through to ensure we get value for money. And then we can combine 60,000 barrels from the old refinery, making a total of 210,000 barrels. This would support our refining processes and products, with multiple benefits. Then, we can have sufficient products and even export to other countries.”

The Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Ibrahim Onoja, revealed that the rehabilitation of the old refinery has been completed and it is now fully operational.

“This is the new Port Harcourt Refinery, a 150,000-barrels-per-day plant commissioned in 1989. The rehabilitation work is ongoing in this new refinery while we were also working on the old Port Harcourt Refinery. The old one is completed, and the plant is running. As you can see, the new refinery is at an advanced stage, but importantly, size matters,” he said.

This development follows the Port Harcourt Refinery’s export of refined petroleum products from its 60,000-barrels-per-day plant, including the shipment of its first cargo of low-sulphur straight-run fuel oil to Gulf Transport and Trading Limited, a leading energy company in Africa based in Dubai.

It should be recalled that on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, the NNPCL commenced full operations at the Port Harcourt Refinery after a series of unfulfilled promises to Nigerians.

There are hopes that, with the new 150,000-barrels-per-day refinery and the old 60,000-barrels-per-day plant in Port Harcourt, Nigeria will achieve energy sufficiency and end its reliance on foreign refiners and petroleum product importation.