PH Refinery Defies Deadline, Experts Arrive From Italy

The Port Harcourt Refinery, whose rehabilitation works commenced over two years ago, has defied all efforts to resume operations.

Fuel importation and a lack of working refineries in the country have strained the Nigerian economy, pushing many into poverty.

Despite the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s (NNPCL) management’s promise that the refinery would commence operations by 31 December 2023, there is nothing on the ground to show that the Refinery would take off any time soon.

LEADERSHIP reports that the Port Harcourt Refinery, whose rehabilitation started over two years ago, is still receiving experts who have yet to make the company work.

It was gathered that some experts in the oil and gas industry from Italy arrived at Port Harcourt Refinery on Thursday on board a German airline.

One of the experts told our correspondent that their company has been working at the Port Harcourt Refinery for two years, adding that their team was just arriving for the rehabilitation project.

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.

During an inspection tour of the rehabilitation project, which coincided with the 15th Refineries’ Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting, the group chief executive officer, NNPC Ltd., Mr Mele Kyari, said that as of December 15th, 2023, 84.4% of Area 5 Plant, a vital component of the Refinery, and 77.4% of the entire rehabilitation project had been completed.

The PHRC rehabilitation project, costing about $1.5bn, was an EPCIC project that was said to have covered the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation, and Commissioning phases.
For Area 5, the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation were also said to have all been completed.

At that time, the company said that mechanical completion signified the closure of the construction and installation phases.

“More importantly, the milestone was achieved under an excellent Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) record, which stood at over 9.5 million manhours with zero Loss Time Injury (LTI),” Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Ltd, Olufemi O. Soneye had said in a statement.

With fuel prices increasing in the country amid hardship, the Senate raised concerns over the $1.5 billion approved in 2021 for the turnaround maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery, with little or no result.

The Senate, through its leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, as chairperson of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, said it would get to the root of the matter.

Despite high fuel prices and the suffering Nigerians face, the Senate has suspended the investigation.
Nigerians are paying through their nose for fuel, the most common energy source available in the country.

The high fuel prices have also raised the prices of food, goods, services, and transportation.
Despite these developments, the Kaduna, Port-Harcourt, and Warri refineries spent N127.326 billion on salaries, wages, and employee benefits between 2020 and 2021, according to a report.

It was gathered that the Port Harcourt Refinery alone spent N22.547 billion in 2020 and another N32.023 billion in 2021 on Salaries, wages, and employee benefits, in addition to the $1.5 billion spent on the failed rehabilitation.

Meanwhile, NNPCL has said that increasing crude oil production to 3 million barrels per day, up from the current 1.7 million, is possible.

During a stakeholder engagement session with journalists who cover the National Assembly, Mr Olufemi Soneye, the chief corporate communications officer (CEO) of NNPCL, stated that this goal could be reached with the collaboration of all stakeholders involved.

Soneye was silent about the refinery’s inability to work so that Nigerians could access cheaper fuel but said they are not fighting the Dangote refinery.

The NNPC spokesman admitted a disagreement with the Dangote refinery but insisted there was no fight.

“We are not fighting Dangote,” Soneye said, adding, “There might be disagreement, but it’s for Nigerians to benefit.

“There is no way I should be fighting someone who has invested millions of dollars in the country. So, we are not fighting Dangote.

“As young men, we should tell Nigerians the truth. The common man is an absolute loser in all these. If the big man wants crude, he will have it. It’s the common man that is the loser.

“The lives of the common man were better two months ago when buying fuel. Buying fuel two months ago was better because NNPCL still bought fuel at N600.

“Our lives were better two months ago than now. So, as for Dangote, there is no fight, no war,” Soneye said.