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 facil...