By Ken Afor
After many years of dedicated endeavors to enhance petroleum production in Nigeria, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) has ultimately delivered on its commitment to the Nigerian people by successfully accomplishing the Rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
Upon the conclusion of the project, the process of refining petroleum products is anticipated to commence promptly after the Christmas break.
This was disclosed on Thursday during the 15th Refineries Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting held in Port Harcourt, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil).
The attendees of the meeting included Mallam Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL; Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, the Executive Vice President, Upstream of NNPC Limited; and Chief Pius Akinyelure, the Chairman of the NNPC Board.
It would be recalled that in 1965, the Old Port Harcourt Refinery (OPHR) was established with a production capacity of 35,000 BPSD.
In 1972, the capacity of 60,000 BPSD was achieved after de-bottlenecking, leading to the current state of affairs.
The New Port Harcourt Refinery (NPHR), on the other hand, was established in March 1989 with a much larger capacity of 150,000 BPSD.
Throughout the years, numerous attempts have been made to rejuvenate the refinery; however, none have proven successful until the ongoing endeavor undertaken by NNPC Limited.
The Minister, Senator Lokpobiri emphasized that restoring the refineries to their peak performance is a collective national goal, and the government is unwavering in its commitment to achieving this objective.
His words, “This is just to announce to Nigerians that in fulfilment of our pledge to bring on stream phase 1 of the PH refinery by the end of 2023 and the subsequent streaming of phase 2 in 2024, we heartily announce the mechanical completion and flare up of the refinery on the 20th of December 2023. This heralds the commencement of production of petroleum products after the Christmas break.
“We want to thank Nigerians for their patience and trust in the NNPC to deliver on our promise and mandate for the rehabilitation of our refineries.”
Furthermore, Kyari NNPCL CEO emphasized that the NNPC Limited is dedicated to guaranteeing the seamless operation of the Port Harcourt refinery.
“We have done a great job to ensure this project works. We have been working on this project 24 hours daily, and we are happy they are delivering on this task,” he said.
The Chairman of the NNPC Limited Board, Chief Akinyelure, also conveyed his enthusiasm regarding the rehabilitation project, emphasizing that the entire management team of the NNPC takes great pride in this accomplishment.
He said, “We are here this morning to witness this event. We are very proud of the staff and the entire management of the refinery. We have just started because we want to hit the highest level of production to keep petrol prices stable.”
This will bring comfort to the people around here and people in Nigeria and, if possible, to export to other countries.”
