The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has reaffirmed its readiness to begin crude oil refining at the Port Harcourt refinery in early August.
This announcement was made by the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, during an emergency session at the National Assembly joint committee on finance.
Kyari confirmed that production at the Port Harcourt refinery will commence by early August this year, while the Kaduna refinery is scheduled to start operations by December 2024. Despite previously announcing a March 2024 start date for the Port Harcourt refinery, Kyari emphasized the August timeline as feasible.
With the Dangote refinery’s contributions, Kyari stated that Nigeria aims to achieve a production target of two million barrels per day, aspiring to become a net exporter of petroleum products by December.
The Port Harcourt refinery complex, located at Alesa-Eleme near Port Harcourt in Rivers State, consists of two refineries. The Port Harcourt II (New Refinery), a complex conversion refinery with a distillation capacity of 150,000 barrels per day, began operations in 1988. Originally intended as an export refinery, it now serves the domestic market due to frequent supply interruptions from Nigeria’s other three refineries. It possesses significant clean fuel capabilities, including lead-free gasoline.
According to senior officials at the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPCL, the Port Harcourt refinery is currently undergoing various licensing processes following the supply of crude to the plant after its mechanical completion in December 2023.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, confirmed the plant’s final rehabilitation stage, noting that the mechanical work at the refinery is complete, and crude oil has been supplied. The facility is now awaiting necessary licenses, with ongoing inspections and test-runs conducted by foreign officials to ensure compliance and safety.
In March, Mele Kyari reported that the Port Harcourt refinery had received 450,000 barrels of crude oil and was set to begin operations in April, a milestone that was not achieved. He detailed these developments during a Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigation into the Turn Around Maintenance projects of the country’s refineries.
“We did a mechanical completion of the refinery in December and have crude oil stocked in the refinery. We are conducting regulatory compliance tests that must be completed before starting operations. I assure you that the Port Harcourt refinery will start in the next two weeks,” Kyari stated.
He also mentioned that the mechanical work on the Warri refinery is complete, with regulatory compliance processes underway, and the refinery will soon be ready for operations. The Kaduna refinery, still in its rehabilitation phase, is promised for completion by December.
