Port Harcourt Refinery to Commence Operation on September
Port Harcourt Refinery to Commence Operation on September
www.petroleumnewsngr.com
By Emmanuel Addeh
Abuja — The first phase of a project to rehabilitate Nigeria’s 210,000 barrels per day Port Harcourt refinery, which had been slated for completion in April this year, may not be finished for another four months at least, refinery and oil ministry sources have told Argus Media.
The Nigerian government awarded Italian engineering firm Maire Tecnimont a $1.5 billion contract for the rehabilitation work in April 2021. At the time, the Italian company said the first phase of the work would be completed in 24 months, with the second and third phases taking 32 and 44 months, respectively.
But the first phase has missed its April 2023 target and may not be completed until September, according to an oil ministry source.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari, had assured Nigerians of its resolve to complete the ongoing rehabilitation of Port Harcourt Refinery by March, 2023.
Kyari had given the assurance during the resumed investigative hearing into the state of the refineries in the country, held by the House of Ad-hoc Committee chaired by Hon. Ganiyu Johnson.
Months later, the national oil company said that the Port-Harcourt refinery will begin operations by the second quarter of 2023.
It said Warri and Kaduna stations had been contracted for quick rehabilitation to reduce fuel scarcity and increase dependence on natural gas through the rehabilitation of three refineries.
Also, erstwhile Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, had said that the 60, 000bpd part of the refinery would be completed by first quarter of 2023.
The minister of State who stated this during President Muhammadu Buhari administration scorecard 2015-2023 organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture, also declared that petroleum price should be market driven as subsidizing petroleum products is no longer sustainable.
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But the source at Port Harcourt suggested that September may be ambitious, indicating that a quick-fix programme at Nigeria’s 125,000 bpd Warri refinery, scheduled to finish by November, could be completed first.
Warri is currently undergoing a $492 million repair programme under a contract awarded to South Korean engineering firm Daewoo.
