Port Harcourt Refinery Ready This December, NNPC Insists

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

 The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), has maintained that the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) will start operations this December despite pessimism expressed by many Nigerians.

Managing Director of the facility, Ibrahim Onoja, who gave an update on the ongoing work at the plant in a television broadcast, noted that the procurement process for the rehabilitation of the refiner is now 98 per cent complete.

Earlier, NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, had assured that by the end of this month the refinery would come on-stream and in early 2024, the Warri refinery is slated to begin. Also, he stated  that by the end of the same 2024, the Kaduna refinery is expected to come online.

According to the refinery MD, over 75 per cent of the Port Harcourt refinery project is already completed.

 “Over 75 per cent of this task has been completed and accelerated as workers run day and night shifts. We have completed most of the procurement, we have gone over 98 per cent, and most of them are now delivered.

“We have refineries in the world that are over a hundred years old. The basic static equipment which is the metallic part you see remains fundamentally the same.

“Upgrades happen over the years, yes, the Port Harcourt refinery was built in 1965, but as time went on, the instrumentation equipment was upgraded.”

The NNPC added that the instrumentation and control unit was also undergoing a complete overhaul, while the rotating equipment comprising pumps and compressors have been upgraded.

The MD stressed that the refinery rehabilitation had been on since April 2021, noting that up to 3,000 workers are working on the project and has recorded 8.3 million man-hours with zero lost time to injuries.