Oando Clarifies Role in Rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery

Ejiofor Alike
Oando Plc has clarified its role in the planned rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, saying that in pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reached by the federal government and Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC/ENI), it will partner the Italian firm in the proposed rehabilitation.

The company’s Chief Strategy and Corporate Services Officer, Ainoije ‘Alex’ Irune, who made the clarification in a statement yesterday, further stated that Oando shares the vision of the federal government to become a petroleum product self-sufficient country in the short to medium term and ultimately be a net exporter of such products.

According to him, the partnership between Oando and NAOC/Eni in the proposed rehabilitation will be based on a repair, operate and maintain (ROM) agreement which will see PHRC’s capacity grow from its current 30 per cent to 100 per cent, its nameplate capacity of 210,000 BPSD.

“In line with the concerted efforts of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to aggressively drive private sector led refineries rehabilitation and expansion programs, Oando as local partners to NAOC/ENI will support the rehabilitation of PHRC’s on activities of terminalling, logistics, structuring and funding,” Irune explained.

Irune said that active negotiations are ongoing, adding that it is expected that a final agreement will be reached by end of July, 2017.

“It is imperative that information released about a publicly quoted company such as Oando Plc, is thoroughly verified before it is put in the public domain. The company’s securities are traded daily across two exchanges (NSE and JSE). To prevent misinformation and confusion among shareholders, investors, employees, and the oil and gas sector at large, we implore all members of the press, as the Fourth Estate, to take adequate steps to ensure the veracity of reports by fielding all enquiries with Oando Plc’s Corporate Communications department,” Irune added.