The Port Harcourt Refining Company, a refinery managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, has now again failed to start operations after six postponements, according to The Punch.
It is reported that the federal government and NNPCL has continued to fail Nigerians on its pledge to make the refinery operational by this multiple postponements.
Since December 2023, the NNPC, which is in control of all government refineries, has promised Nigerians different dates, assuring them that the refinery would begin selling refined products soon.
The NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari announced in July that the refinery would be operational by early August.
The same Kyari stated in 2019 that the NNPC would complete all four refineries before the conclusion of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
While appearing before the senate recently in July, Kyari boasted, “I can confirm to you, Mr Chairman, that by the end of the year, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum products.
“Specific to NNPC refineries, we have spoken to a number of your committees, and it is impossible to have the Kaduna refinery come into operation before December, it will get to December, both Warri and Kaduna, but that of Port Harcourt will commence production early August this year.”
However, as August approaches its halfway, the refinery has yet to begin operations, raising suspicions that this is yet another broken promise from NNPC.
In response to inquiries, the NNPC said it was on course, even when the early August promise has elapsed.
The NNPC spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye said “We are on course.”
Recall, it was previously reported that the 210,000 barrels per day refinery was said to have reached what the NNPC called mechanical completion of rehabilitation work in December.
It was stated that the facility would begin refining 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day following last year’s Christmas break.
Later in January, Kyari said the refinery was being tested and would be ready by the end of January.
During the second month of the year, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited completed the shipment of 475,000 barrels of crude oil to the Port Harcourt refinery, bolstering market anticipation that production would begin.
This came a few weeks after NNPC said in January it was seeking to engage reputable and credible operations and maintenance companies to run the Port Harcourt refinery. NNPC did not disclose whether or not it had secured bidders to run the refinery.
Kyari announced in mid-March that the Port Harcourt refinery would start operations in two weeks in April.
“We are serving this country with honour and dignity. And we will make sure that the promises we make on the rehabilitation of these refineries will take place,” Kyari stated after he appeared before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating the various turnaround maintenance projects of the country’s refineries.
As the April deadline elapsed, independent petroleum marketers stated that the facility would begin production by the end of July.
Commenting on this, NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Soneye, 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,” Soneye revealed in May.
