The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Saturday dismissed reports in some section of the media alleging that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery which was re-streamed two months ago has been shut down.
The national oil company said in a statement made available to NewsNGR that such reports are totally false as the refinery is fully operational as verified a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC.
It said in the statement that preparation for the day’s loading operation is currently ongoing.
The statement reads, “The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has been drawn to reports in a section of the media alleging that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery which was re-streamed two months ago has been shut down.
“We wish to clarify that such reports are totally false as the refinery is fully operational as verified a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC.
“Preparation for the day’s loading operation is currently ongoing. Members of the public are advised to discountenance such reports as they are the figments of the imagination of those who want to create artificial scarcity and rip-off Nigerians.”
Amid ongoing scepticism and criticism surrounding the revamp of the Port Harcourt Refinery, former Group Managing Directors (GMDs) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had three days ago commended the efforts of the current management team, led by the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC Ltd, Mr. Mele Kyari.
After inspecting the refinery during their Former NNPC GCEOs Forum in Port Harcourt, the ex-GMDs described the achievement as “magic.”
Speaking on behalf of the group, Dr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, who served as GMD from 1999 to 2003, explained that many critics failed to understand the magnitude of work involved.
He clarified that this was not a routine Turnaround Maintenance (TAM) but a full rehabilitation that modernized a plant originally built in 1965 into a state-of-the-art facility by 2024.
“Some of those who criticize do not understand the extent of the work carried out. They mistake it for the usual Turnaround Maintenance.
“This is a complete rehabilitation—transforming a plant built in 1965 into a modern one in 2024. We appreciate the effort,” Obaseki stated.
The refinery, located in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria, first began operating in 1965. It is the country’s oldest and biggest among the three government-owned refineries.
The site includes a refinery processing 60,000 barrels per day that was built in 1965, along with a 150,000 bpd unit that was installed in 1989. The Port Harcourt refinery, along with other state-owned refineries, has been operating well below its total capacity of 210,000 bpd for many years due to inefficiencies and maintenance issues.
This lack of efficiency has greatly led to Nigeria depending more on imported refined petroleum products, even though it is the biggest producer of crude oil in Africa.
The multi-phase rehabilitation project is expected to be finished by 2025. The mechanical completion phase, called the first phase, was completed by NNPC Ltd. in December 2023.
The updated refinery features high-tech components like the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU), Vacuum Distillation Unit (VDU), Naphtha Hydrotreating Unit (NHTU), and Continuous Catalyst Regeneration (CCR) Unit, among other units.
Moreover, the facility includes a butamer isomerization unit, an alkylation unit, as well as units for hydrogen purification, fuel gas vaporization, sour water, and caustic treatment.
The older section of the refinery includes a CDU, a Catalytic Reforming Unit (CRU), and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facility.
The complex is powered by four turbo-generators, each generating 14 MW of electricity per hour and four boilers capable of producing 120 tonnes of steam per hour.