The Port Harcourt Refinery is currently undergoing test runs to ensure it is fully operational before it commences commercial operations.
The refinery was supposed to resume functioning after a Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) in December 2023. However, a recent check shows that the test runs are still ongoing and that crude supply will follow once the tests are complete.
Olufemi Oladapo Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer for NNPC Ltd., confirmed the situation, stating that the refinery’s test runs are aimed at ensuring that all systems, including the lines, are in perfect working condition. Once everything is confirmed to be fine, crude supply for refining can begin. NNPC Ltd. had previously announced that it had completed rehabilitation work on the Area 5 Plant of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC).
According to NNPC Ltd., “Rehabilitation work has been ongoing at the Refinery for over two years and the NNPC Ltd. had pledged to complete Phase One of the project (mechanical completion and flare start-up) of Old Port Harcourt Refinery (Area 5) by 31st December 2023.”
While on an inspection tour of the rehabilitation project, which coincided with the 15th Refineries’ Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting, Mr. Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., stated that as of December 15th, 2023, 84.4% of the Area 5 Plant – a crucial part of the refinery – and 77.4% of the entire rehabilitation project have been completed.
Mr. Kyari further noted that their goal was to ensure that the refinery is re-streamed to continue delivering value to Nigerians. To achieve this, they promised to reach a mechanical completion of phase one of the rehabilitation project by the end of December and get the other plants running in 2024. He then confirmed that they have kept these commitments.hat they have kept these commitments.
Similarly, the Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board, Pius Akinyelure described the milestone as “historic”, stressing that the board was proud of the staff and management of the refinery.
“We are just starting. We want to be at the highest level of production so that we will keep the prices of petroleum prices in the country stable to give comfort to our people and generate more revenue for our country,” Akinyelure noted.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the milestone is another landmark of the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He thanked Nigerians for their patience and the trust they have in NNPC Ltd.’s ability to deliver on this huge project.
On his part, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo said re-streaming the Refinery will herald a good omen for the nation’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry, as LPG, also known as cooking gas, is a major by-product of the Refinery.
