…NMDPRA Issues License For PH Refinery Take-Off
Following the mechanical completion of the Old Port Harcourt Refinery in December, last year, a total of one million barrels of crude oil has been supplied to the plant by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd as refining of petroleum products from the facility is set to commence, NewsNGR can authoritatively report.
NewsNGR gathered that the one million barrels of crude oil were supplied to the refinery in two tranches with the latest coming in last Wednesday.
About 170 litres of refined petroleum products can be obtained from a barrel of crude oil. This implies that the one million barrel supplied by the NNPC to the Port Harcourt refinery can provide an estimated 170 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol and other refined products.
It was further learnt that the importation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly called cooking gas, would reduce as the refinery starts pumping out refined products.
NewsNGR’s investigations also revealed that in preparation for commencement of refining of petroleum products, the license for the refinery had been issued by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
The Port Harcourt Refinery located in the oil-rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been operational since 1965. It is the oldest and the biggest of the three government-owned oil refining sites in the West African country.
The PHRC rehabilitation project, which costs about $1.5bn, is a national project that covers Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation, and commissioning phases.
The old PH Refinery comprises a Crude Distillation Unit (CDU), a Catalytic Reforming Unit (CRU) and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) facility.
The products expected from the refinery include petrol, diesel, LPG, aviation and domestic kerosene, low pour fuel oil (LPFO), and heavy pour fuel oil (HPFO).
Investigations by NewsNGR revealed that since the mechanical completion of the Old Port Harcourt Refinery (OPHR) in December 2023, the NNPCL has
completed pre-commissioning of key process subsystems including purging, inerting, leak tests, loop checks, calibrations and motor solo runs.
The NNPCL, according to findings, has also ensured that the steaming out of critical sections of the plant had been completed as well as
completed the prestart-up safety review with the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.
Similarly, NewsNGR understands that the leaks that may hinder the smooth flow of petroleum products have been eliminated, and cold circulation of hydrocarbon is currently ongoing with the main column at 50 per cent level at the refinery.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, had while speaking during a session with lawmakers assured that the nation’s refineries will deliver value to Nigerians.
He had said, “We are all serving this country dutifully and loyally. Nigerians must understand that gradually, we shall get this task done.
“We will make sure that promises that we made about the rehabilitation of these refineries are kept. We did a mechanical completion of PHRC in December. Now, we have crude oil already stocked in it. I assure you that this refinery will start.
“For Warri, we have also done mechanical work on it. It is undergoing regulatory compliance processes that we are doing with our regulators. Kaduna will be ready by December this year, but we have not reached that stage. We believe that it will also be ready on schedule.”