The Port Harcourt Refinery will be ready before the end of the year, while those in Warri and Kaduna would start production next year, the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO), of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Malam Mele Kyari, told Daily Trust.
He said this on Monday when he led his management team on a courtesy visit to the Abuja headquarters of Media Trust Group (MTG), owners of Daily Trust, Trust TV, Trust Radio and other platforms.
Nigeria had been importing petroleum products for decade, a development that kept depleting monies meant for critical economic interventions.
Trillions of naira had been spent on subsidies with experts saying such interventions were not in line with standard practices and therefore not sustainable.
They, therefore, commended the NNPC for delivering on its promise to revamp the refineries, starting with the one in Port Harcourt and called on government to also provide enabling environment for private participation in oil refining.
While giving an update on the status of the refineries’ rehabilitation projects, Kyari said the Port Harcourt refinery (old and new), with a combined capacity of 210,000 barrels per day would have been ready this month but for some supply issues.
He said most of the challenges have been addressed and expressed optimism that with the completion of the rehabilitation and the coming on board of the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, Nigerians stand to gain more.
“Our plan is to bring it (Port Harcourt refinery) on stream this month but unfortunately, we have some slippage because of global supply chain issues that we had. We believe that this plant will come on stream before the end of this year. We’re very sure of that. The Port Harcourt refinery has a combination of 210,000 barrels per day so that means it’s a third of the Dangote refinery”.
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