By Mary Izuaka
Nigeria’s oil agency, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has announced that the Port Harcourt Refinery has commenced production after a long period of rehabilitation.
The NNPC said the refinery began truck-loading petroleum products on Tuesday.
The Port Harcourt Refinery, which comprises two units, was shut down in March 2019 for the first phase of repair work after the government secured the services of Italy’s Maire Tecnimont to handle the review of the refinery complex, with oil major Eni appointed as technical adviser.
In 2021, NNPC said repairs had started at the refinery after the government approved a $1.5-billion budget.
Nigeria owns four refineries, two located in Port Harcourt and one each in Warri and Kaduna. But the refineries have been moribund for many years despite turn-around-maintenance efforts.
The moribund state of the local refineries pushed Nigeria to depend solely on the importation of petroleum products for domestic use for many years, constituting a major drain on the nation’s foreign reserves.
For decades, successive administrations have promised and made moves aimed at reviving the nation’s refineries to reduce dependency on petrol importation but have failed.
The revival of the Port Harcourt Refinery comes weeks after the Dangote refinery (which is privately owned) commenced operations.
