Port Harcourt Refining Company says claims of halted operations are not true, but that activities were only scaled down for improvements.
Officials assured Nigerians that the facility remained active, dismissing allegations of using old stock instead of freshly refined products.
On Sunday, officials at the Port Harcourt Refining Company addressed allegations that operations had halted shortly after the facility’s much-celebrated reopening.
They clarified that while activities had been scaled down to address technical adjustments, the refinery remained operational.
The Executive Director of Operations at the Nigerian Pipeline and Storage Company Limited (NNPC), Moyi Maidunama, stated that “operations were not halted but reduced to make necessary improvements.
“We are managing the process with available trucks and a few loading arms. This will be resolved soon”.
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Terminal Operations Manager, Joel Molokwu, dismissed claims of inactivity, highlighting that the refinery was ready to dispatch products.
“Our loading arms are operational, and we’ve been urging petroleum marketers to come since yesterday.
“If we had 100 trucks today, we’d evacuate them in under five hours. The delay is due to tanker drivers, not us,” he said.
Dead Stocks
The comments followed accusations by the Network of Oil Producing Communities in Nigeria (NOPCN). The association had alleged that the products being loaded were “dead stocks” from 2016, not freshly refined.
However, Molokwu refuted this. “We have 11 functional loading bays and have already loaded over ten trucks today.
“By day’s end, we’ll evacuate at least 15”.
According to him, this was done to uphold active operations.
Also, the Managing Director of the refinery, Ibrahim Onoja, reiterated that the facility was operational, despite claims it had been staged.
“The plant is running and trucking out products,” he affirmed.
Officials remain committed to resolving technical challenges and maintaining supply to meet national energy demands.
