REWIND: In 2023, NNPC said Port Harcourt refinery was ready for operations

On December 21, 2023, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said it had completed the mechanical phase of the turnaround maintenance at the Port Harcourt refinery.

The development meant that the repairs of the refinery’s equipment and systems had been completed.

The NNPC held a ceremony to make the announcement and a flare was seen at the plant later that day.

Speaking at the event, Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), said production would commence at the refinery after Christmas.

The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) operates two refineries; the old refinery with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) and a new refinery with an installed capacity of 150,000 bpsd.

Both facilities bring the refinery’s combined crude processing capacity to 210,000 bpsd.

Over eight months since the minister gave the assurance, the refinery is yet to produce petrol.

HOW IT STARTED 

On March 17, 2021, the federal executive council (FEC) approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the refinery.

According to Timipre Sylva, former minister of state for petroleum, the rehabilitation was to be done in three phases – 18, 24, and 44 months.

He said the first phase, to be completed in 18 months, would take the refinery to a production of 90 percent of its nameplate capacity.

Sylva said the second phase would be completed in 24 months, adding that the final stages would be executed in 44 months.

On May 6, 2021, the NNPC commenced the rehabilitation process.

Providing updates on the project a year later, Sylva, on April 13, 2022, said the refinery was on course to resume operations by the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 and was expected to produce 60,000 bpsd.

He later said the refinery would become functional by the end of 2022.

Buoyed by the ‘Renewed Hope’ campaign slogan, the promises continued after the inauguration of a new government.

President Bola Tinubu, on August 2, 2023, also said the Port Harcourt refinery would commence operations by December 2023.

Tinubu said production would begin after the rehabilitation contract between the NNPC and Maire Tecnimont SpA was completed.

Lokpobiri also assured that the refinery was on track, noting that once operational, Nigerians would benefit from a better supply of petroleum products and domesticated foreign exchange.

Less than a month to the end of 2023, Ibrahim Onoja, managing director (MD) of Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), said the procurement process for the rehabilitation was 98 percent complete — further stretching the faith of citizens in the operationalisation of the plant by December 2023.

WHERE WE ARE NOW?

In an interview with Reuters on January 4, 2024, Femi Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson, said testing would be completed at the Port Harcourt refinery that month.

“Testing will conclude shortly, ensuring the refinery’s efficient operation. That phase will be completed this month,” Soneye had said.

About two weeks later, the NNPC said it was seeking credible operations and maintenance (O&M) companies to operate and maintain the refinery.

In March, Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of the NNPC, said the refinery would begin production by the end of that month.

A few months later, specifically on July 15, Lokpobiri said the refinery was in its final rehabilitation stage.

Addressing the national assembly a day later, Kyari announced that the refinery would begin operations in early August.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) also said the August deadline for the commencement of operations at the facility was realistic.

It is now more than a month since the NNPC GCEO’s announcement — and 10 months since the initial projected start date — yet Nigerians are still waiting for the refinery to pump petrol.