Reports in certain media outlets that the recently revived old Port Harcourt refinery has been closed have been refuted by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
The Federal Government authorized $1.5 billion (1.2 billion euros) three years ago to rehabilitate the refinery, one of the largest refineries in the country that was shut down in 2019.
The refinery is “fully operational,” according to a statement released in Abuja on Saturday by Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd.
After years of closure, the PH refinery, which has a capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, reopened two months ago.
The statement briefly stated, “We would like to clarify that such reports are completely untrue, as the refinery is fully operational, as confirmed a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC.”
The message further mentioned that the loading operation for the day is still being prepared.
“Members of the public are advised to discountenance such reports as they are the figments of the imagination of those who want to create artificial scarcity and rip off Nigerians,” Soneye added.
Nigeria has historically relied on the importation of petroleum products due to a lack of local refining capability, even though it is one of the biggest producers of crude oil.
Nigeria exchanges billions of dollars’ worth of crude for petrol, which it has long subsidized to keep prices low for its own market. When Nigeria was dealing with declining oil income and shortages of foreign currency, fuel imports and subsidies significantly depleted its foreign exchange reserves.
However, months after claiming that the plant was operational, the Dangote refinery started producing petrol in September 2024.
Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, provided an update, stating that the new Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) complex, which can process 150,000 barrels per day, will be operational by the middle of 2025.
Kyari added that 200,000 trucks may be fed with a variety of products every day at the former refinery facility that began full operations.
According to him, the main obstacle to the complex’s prompt revival was making sure that the brand-new machinery was completely overhauled.
