NNPC announces new date for Port Harcourt Refinery to complete test run, begin production

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) said the test run for the Port Harcourt refinery will be completed this month.

This is a significant step to resuming operations five years after the refinery shut down.

The company’s spokesman, Femi Soneye, disclosed on Thursday, January 4, 2024, saying that testing will conclude shortly.

The refinery will begin processing about 60,000 barrels of refined petroleum products daily and supply about 12 states.

It is expected to reach a total capacity of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2024. The Port Harcourt facility is among the four refineries owned by Nigeria and has been comatose for years.

The government is trying to revive the refineries to end the country’s reliance on imported refined products.

Dangote refinery receives four million barrels of crude oil

It is also among the six refineries expected to come online this year, with the 650,000 bpd Dangote facility ready to start pumping diesel and aviation fuel later this month.

The $20 billion refinery in the Lekki area of Lagos has already received about four million consignments of crude oil, with the fifth consigned expected soon.

The NNPC said that the test-running would be completed soon and that commercial production of products would commence shortly.

The development comes as experts and operators in the downstream sectors said that, although the cost of products would reduce immediately after the refinery begins operation, there would be little price reduction.

Port Harcourt Refinery to supply 12 states

The Nigerian government stated on December 21, 2023, that the mechanical completion of rehabilitation work on the Area-5 Plant of the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited in Rivers State.

The government said the refinery’s first phase had been completed as the facility would start producing 60,000 barrels of crude oil daily after the Christmas break.

According to a Punch report, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, said that the first phase of the refinery was completed on December 20, 2023, stating that refined products would commence after the holidays.