NNPCL: Are We Allergic to Success?

Kola Adeleye 

The attempt by vested powerful interests to cast serious doubt on the resumption of crude oil production at the rehabilitated and modernised Port Harcourt refinery complex exposes the feline underbelly of a nation suffering from serious trust deficit and the desperate gambit of political predators for mischief.

 After decades of hiatus, during which the Port Harcourt refinery laid in limbo, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Mele Kyari delivered a ground breaking milestone with the resumption of crude oil processing at the complex under his guidance and leadership. This remarkable achievement under the Tinubu administration rattled implacable opponents of his government; instead of celebrating this significant achievement and the new era of energy independence and economic growth for our nation that it portended, what we have witnessed is an extensive propaganda campaign to diminish the milestone. 

Instead of being applauded for his service, his consuming passion and unwavering commitment to the transformation of our nation’s energy landscape, Kyari is being vilified for guiding the Port Harcourt refinery back to full operations by a misguided cabal. 

As has become self-evident, there are those who believe that the present administration and even our brightest technocrats are incapable of any meaningful achievement, that our nation is irredeemable. As a result of the combination of this dark mindset and hatred of the present administration, decent and informed discourse has become practically impossible. As a result of the desperation to control the narrative of a country where nothing works, we are, unfortunately, being cudgeled and browse beaten with lies and false narratives by agent provocateurs in their relentless pursuit of a questionable political agenda nourished by the determination to score cheap political points.

 Every action and policy of government and activities of institutions in which government has vested interest are unnecessarily demonized; in order to achieve their selfish objective, malicious lies are being weaponized to rubbish the government. 

If dissent is indeed the highest form of patriotism as often attributed to Thomas Jefferson, then purveyors of vile propaganda in this instant case should be regarded as villains. Truth is immutable and will always survive attempts to bury it no matter the determination of the undertakers. 

The truth remains that in 2021, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved $1.5bn for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery. Against the backdrop of failed Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) of the refinery on several occasions in the past amidst allegations of sabotage, Mele Kyari assured the nation that his leadership would ensure the successful completion of the rehabilitation process. True to his commitment and pledge, the refinery resumed production officially on November 26, 2024 with the initial release of one million litres of refined products. This breakthrough engineered by Kyari caught the peddlers of the malicious lies off guard and punctured the central plank of the narrative of a failed energy behemoth. 

Needless to state that the inconsolable propaganda merchants have deployed every nasty tactics from their infamous playbook to sow doubts about one of the major achievements of the Tinubu administration without much impact . Their pushback notwithstanding, the significance of successfully bringing back the Port Harcourt refinery on stream and the implication on the economy is not lost on discerning citizens. The refinery complex comprising two operational units established in 1965 and 1989 respectively with a combined capacity of 210,000 barrels per day had at various times been shut down due to a combination of factors- lack of maintenance, technical issues and funding constraints. But with the return to production, the Port Harcourt refinery is set to play a critical role in the country’s oil landscape and economy. 

In line with his vision of innovation, openness and accountability which continues to define the remarkable transformation of NNPCL under his guidance, Mele Kyari, in his reaction to the sustained false claims by lie peddlers invited them and indeed Nigerians for a complete on the spot tour of the Port Harcourt refinery. In response to his invitation, several professional bodies and stakeholders have undertaken the tour of the refinery and have become compelling witnesses to the revamp and upgrade of the refinery with modern equipment. 

Recently, a fact finding delegation of the Nigeria Society of Chemical Engineers led by its President, Tony Ogbuigwe and other stakeholders visited the revived facility and from what they saw on  ground confirmed that the refinery was back in operation and indeed running smoothly.

The team of core professionals whose assessment carries a lot of weight also took samples of the products – petrol, diesel and kerosene. During the tour of Area 5 housing the revived refinery, they witnessed a seamless production process; after the crude oil arrived the refinery, they observed it go through the Crude Distillation Unit, there is distillation in the column with products coming out from the column at various levels. From this stage, the top is gas, which invariably produces cooking gas; the next level down is straight-run gasoline. The next level is heavy naphtha, then kerosene, diesel and then crude oil at the bottom of the column. The stakeholders including marketers and regulators witnessed the loading of about 200 trucks at the gantry.

With the re-streaming of the Port Harcourt refinery by Mele Kyari validated beyond doubt by independent stakeholders, paving the way for the delivery of high quality petroleum products into the market, the country’s flagship giant with eyes firmly fixed on satisfying demands in the local market, has proven that it also has the capacity to play the big league in the international scene. Already, NNPCL has sold the first cargo of Port Harcourt low sulfur straight run fuel oil (LSSR) to Gulf Transport & Trading Limited (GTT) based in Dubai. The loading of 15,000 metric tonnes of the product which translates to about 13.6 million litres onboard the Wonder Star MR1 ship signalled the commencement of the exportation of petroleum products by NNPCL.

 Currently, the global market share may not be huge but this development has the potential to impact the Very Low Sulfur Oil (VLSO) benchmarks in the future with the capacity to change the market realities for Atlantic Basin exporters into Nigeria and other regions.

According to Kpler, a data and analysis company, the sulfur content of the export by NNPCL is at 0.26 per cent wt and a 0.918 g/ml density at 15 centigrade. This significant move by NNPC, according to experts, would help displace imports from traditional suppliers in Africa and Europe. This is because Nigeria’s falling clean product( CPP) imports are already declining, dragging imports into the wider West Africa region lower as well.

Despite the huge leap represented by the coming on stream of the refinery, the march towards energy self-sufficiency is still on. With the first unit of the refinery complex already on stream and the second unit of the plant with the capacity to deliver 150,000 barrels per day set to come on stream by mid-2025, the prospects are hovering on a positive territory. 

Mele Kyari’s pledge of delivering proper rehabilitation including turnaround maintenance is fundamental; under his guidance, NNPC has ensured that there is an established professional technical operations and maintenance (O&M) team with the responsibility of operating and maintaining the facilities.The combined effect of the operationalization of the two units is that with the first unit already running smoothly and the coming on stream of the upgraded 150,000 barrels second unit by mid 2025 will resolve all fuel insufficiency challenges and make Nigeria a net exporter of refined petroleum products.

This eureka moment which is within touching distance would not have been possible without the managerial acumen, strong corporate governance skills, unrelenting commitment, consuming passion, relentless advocacy and patriotic zeal of Mele Kyari.

Mary Lou Retton famously stated that, “Each of us has a fire in our hearts for something. It is our goal in life to find it and keep it lit.” In the case of Mele Kyari, he has found his own goal and lit the flame of service nurtured by a strong passion to recreate the world and make a difference for the good of humanity.

Time and opportunity are two critical factors fundamental to the realization of set goals no matter how lofty. It is in this light that Nigerians should applaud President Tinubu for giving Kyari the opportunity to continue to serve his country in the present capacity.

 His stellar performance in office has amply demonstrated that his reappointment to his present position by the president is indeed the right call. As Kyari confronts and resolves the challenges in the oil sector and with his vision approaching a shattering climax, the unfurling of the country’s energy revolution is looking inevitable.

Adeleye, the Head of Practice of Atlantic Star Logistics Consulting, wrote from Ikoyi, Lagos.