WHEN WILL THE PORT HARCOURT REFINERY OPEN? SAYS KYARI

Babatunji Wusu –

The Port Harcourt refinery will start up again in April, according to information released on Friday by Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

In a statement, Kyari revealed that the facility, which has received over 450,000 barrels of crude after delivery from active lines, has had the mechanical work finished.

Additionally, he stated that the Warri and Kaduna refineries’ repairs are almost finished.

He states that it is anticipated that the Kaduna refinery will start up in December.

In the meantime, the Senate rejected a purported report of fraud in the turnaround maintenance (TAM) that the NNPCL was performing on the country’s refineries.

Former Minister of State for Petroleum Timipre Sylva, told reporters at the time, “We are happy to announce that the rehabilitation of productivity refinery will commence in three phases.

“The first phase is to be completed in 18 months, which will take the refinery to a production of 90 percent of its nameplate capacity.”

Sylva further mentioned that the third phase would be finished in forty-four months and the second in twenty-four.

Constructed in 1965, after oil was discovered beneath the marshy ground and creeks of the delta where the Niger River empties into the Gulf of Guinea, the Port Harcourt refinery is the oldest in Nigeria.

In the years that followed, refineries were constructed in the neighboring cities of Warri and Kaduna in the North-Central area. In 1989, a new plant was installed to the same location in Port Harcourt.

However, the facilities have been less used and more idle in recent years.