Amidst the economic challenges and the World Bank’s advice to increase the price of fuel that is now very expensive and the inability of Nigeria to meet her OPEC crude oil production quota, Port Harcourt Refinery is coming back to life.Â
Indeed, Nigeria keeps losing revenue to importation of petrol, with citizens hoping that Dangote Refinery could save the nation.Â
Now, all hope will no longer go to the richest African’s refinery in Lagos that has failed to keep several promises of petrol coming from its pipes.
For the first time in a very long time, good news is coming regarding Nigeria’s unproductive refineries.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) says it has completed rehabilitation works on port Harcourt Refinery.
In fact, this is coming as a shock to many because quite a number of Nigerians did not believe that the NNPCL would fulfill its promise on the Port Harcourt Refinery.
This is because at sundry times the great people of Nigeria have been taken for a ride by those in government.
Today the NNPCL is in a celebratory mood, having achieved mechanical competition and flare start-up of the Refinery’s area 5 plant.
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This idle refinery and the others in Warri, Kaduna and port Harcourt were shut down in 2019 after costing the nation over 227 billion in revenue.
NNPCL Keeps Promise
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, during the inspection said 77.4% of the entire project has been completed.
“In our quest to ensure that this refinery is re-streamed to continue to deliver value to Nigerians, we made a promise to Nigerians.
“We promised to reach a mechanical completion of phase one of the rehabilitation project by the end of December and get other plants running in 2024.
“Today, we have kept those commitments, Kyari said, during the tour inspection.
The GCEO thanked Nigerians for their trust in the company, he also thanked the staff for their efforts to see the refinery come alive again.
Present at the inspection tour was the chairman of NNPCL board, Chief Pius Akinyelure.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil) Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri said this is a great achievement for President Bola Tinubu’s administration
NNPCL Spent $1.5bn To Rehabilitate Port Harcourt Refinery
According to information gathered a total of $1.5 billion was expended on the rehabilitation project of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
Yet there is no announced date for when the refinery would commence production.
So, Nigerians are wondering why the NNPCL management is in a celebratory mood when the rehabilitation has not been completed.
Also, the refinery has not generated a penny to the nation’s coffers but has gulped $1.5 billion and there is celebration.
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Critics advised the NNPCL management to begin generating revenue to help heal the wounded economy instead of gallivanting in a celebratory mood.
It is also hoped that when this refinery commences full production, the prices of fuel will reduce significantly.
And transportation cost will also drop to make life more comfortable for the average Nigerian citizen.
