NNPC says Port Harcourt refinery is not 100% finished, announces date for completion

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has claimed that the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) is currently 77.4% completed.

It, however, stressed that the refinery has achieved its promise of reaching the mechanical completion of rehabilitation work on the Area 5 Plant.

The NNPCL noted this during an inspection tour of the rehabilitation project.

This followed an earlier report that the long-awaited Port Harcourt refinery is now ready, fulfilling the federal government's promise that operation will start in December 2023.

Project almost completed The old Port Harcourt Refinery (Area 5) has been undergoing restoration for more than two years.

NNPC Ltd. promised to finish Phase One of the project—mechanical completion and flare start-up—by December 31, 2023.

According to Leadership, Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., said that 77.4% of the rehabilitation project had been finished, and 84.4% of the Area 5 Plant, a crucial part of the refinery, had been completed as of December 15, 2023.

Kyari said: “In our quest to ensure that this refinery is re-streamed to continue to deliver value to Nigerians, we made a promise that we will reach a mechanical completion of phase one of the rehabilitation project by the end of December and get the other plants running in 2024. Today, we have kept those commitments,”

He gave special recognition to the employees of NNPC Ltd. and the EPCIC contractors for their outstanding work in ensuring the refinery reached that noteworthy milestone.

According to Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), the accomplishment is a renewed hope agenda for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR. Liquefied petroleum gas, or cooking gas, is a significant byproduct of the refiner.

Therefore, reopening the facility will be positive for the country's LPG business, according to Rt. Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, the minister of state for petroleum (gas).