NEWS

PORTHACOURT REFINERY SHUTS DOWN FOR THE SECOND TIME WEEKS AFTER $1.5BILLION REHABILITATION 


Barely a month since resuming production, the Port-Harcourt Refinery has ceased operations for the second time, raising concerns about the effectiveness of its $1.5 billion rehabilitation project.

The PUNCH reported that loading operations at the refinery's 18-arm loading bay had been halted since Friday, December 13, leaving the bay empty. 

Tankers that typically crowd the refinery’s premises were seen stranded, with 18 trucks parked along the busy access road and nine inside the parking yard.

The depot, once a hub of activity, was quiet, with few movements by humans and vehicles.

The 60,000-barrel-per-day plant, inaugurated with much fanfare on November 26, 2024, by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) CEO Mele Kyari, was intended to signal a new era in Nigeria's energy production.

The rehabilitation project, approved in March 2021, aimed to revamp the facility, which had been dormant for years.

The latest shutdown has generated questions about the viability of the refinery's operations and the accountability surrounding the multi-billion-dollar rehabilitation investment, even raised trust issues.

However, contrary to claims of 200 trucks being loaded, fewer than 10 trucks carried petrol that day.

Shortly after NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari returned to Abuja, operations reportedly reverted to inactivity.
Stakeholders alleged that the petrol lifted during the reopening was old stock from the storage tanks.

Three weeks later, the loading bay was discovered to be deserted.

Meanwhile, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria explained that operations were scaled down for meter calibration and the de-watering of old stock to prepare for newly refined products.
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