New – It is Confirmed that Port Harcourt Refinery is Fully Functional

The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to President Bola Tinubu, Bayo Onanuga has shared new information about the state of the Port Harcourt refinery after a visit to the 60,000 barrels complex on Wednesday.

He had been there with a fact-finding team to address the rumours about the operations of the refinery and returned with details of the mission.

He said, “I am pleased to report that we were satisfied with what we saw.”

According to Onanuga, the refinery’s Managing Director Ibrahim Onoja, gave the team a tour of the entire complex. They got an overview of the computerised control room, the loading bay and most of the complex.

They also asked relevant questions and received satisfactory answers, dispelling all doubts and misconceptions.

The NNPC announced the reopening of the old Port Harcourt refinery at the end of November. However, speculations of non-functionality have since trailed the announcement. High prices of petrol also fueled the speculations as people expected the reopening of the refinery to drive costs down.

Onanuga in his details asked Nigerians to ignore the lies and false information about the refinery’s operations as he has confirmed that it is operational. He also confirmed the production of petroleum products, including kerosene, low-pour fuel oil, LPG, diesel, and gasoline.

He did mention that the refinery is not currently running at 100%, it is functioning at 70% installed capacity. Plans to increase production shortly are also in place as he stated.

According to Onanuga crude oil supply at the refinery is regular, contrary to claims that it lacks crude to refine.

Port Harcourt Refinery

The reopened refinery received a facelift from the recent overhaul that transformed it into a modern facility. Parts of the 300km pipelines were upgraded and some others were replaced to bring the structure back to life.

“Some parts the company had not changed in 27 years have been replaced with new ones, bringing the refinery up to 21st-century standards.”

What was once a 20th-century refinery has been transformed into a state-of-the-art facility.”

Repairs at the other refineries are still ongoing. This confirms the information obtained from the former Nigeria Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva who said that the refinery repair was divided into three phases.

Onanuga said his team visited the 1989 Port Harcourt refinery while at it. There was ongoing work and a dismantling and replacement of old, rusty parts. It was learnt that the possible reopening date will be in 2026. This could also be another false promise as with the previous promises of reopening the refineries in the last years.