The Port Harcourt refinery has fully resumed operations following a short period of “scaling down,” according to Mr. Ibrahim Onoja, the Managing Director of the company.
Speaking to journalists after a tour of the facility on Sunday night, Mr. Onoja confirmed that the refinery had resumed the distribution of products, including Premium Motor Spirit, kerosene, and diesel.
”The refining plant has undergone extensive upgrades to enhance efficiency and reliability which had also impacted on production capacity.
”We replaced most of the equipment including pumps installation and cables.
“The plant is running and we are trucking out our products,” he said.
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Moyi Maidunama, the Director of Operations at the Nigeria Pipeline and Storage Company (NPSC) Ltd, also addressed the matter, confirming a temporary reduction in production.
He clarified that this reduction was necessary to resolve certain technical issues, with the goal of enhancing the facility’s delivery capacity.
”We are managing the process with the number of trucks available today, using three loading arms for evacuation, this would be resolved soon.
”Our operations were not totally halted but reduced due to some of the improvements that we needed to make in terms of getting more loading arms operational.
”We have been evacuating refined petroleum products from the refinery since yesterday and its obviously going to be a continuous process,” he said.
Worlu Joel, the terminal manager, also affirmed the refinery’s efficiency, noting that it has started loading Premium Motor Spirit, kerosene, and diesel.
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He mentioned that the depot, which has eleven functional loading bays, is currently operating with just three, thanks to its high efficiency.
He explained that each bay can evacuate up to three trucks within 15 minutes.
However, he voiced concerns about the slow turnout of tanker drivers.
”We have suplus product. Let us sayd we have up to 100 trucks today, we will evacuate them in a five hours, Its no longer our problem, its the tanker drivers,”he said.
On November 26, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) announced that the Port Harcourt refinery had resumed production following an extended period of rehabilitation. The refinery has also begun the truck loading of petroleum products.
The Port Harcourt Refineries consist of two units: the older plant with a refining capacity of 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) and the newer plant with a capacity of 150,000 bpd, bringing the total refining capacity to 210,000 bpd.
The refinery has not been operating at full capacity for over 20 years. It was shut down in March 2019 for the first phase of repairs, following the government’s engagement of Italy’s Maire Tecnimont to oversee the refinery’s review, with oil giant Eni serving as the technical advisor.
In 2021, NNPC Ltd announced that repairs had commenced after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved $1.5 billion for the project.
On December 21, 2023, the Nigerian government confirmed the mechanical completion and flare start-up of the refinery.
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