NNPC speaks on operational concerns raised about Port Harcourt refinery

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) on Friday dismissed allegations made by the Secretary, Alesa Stakeholders, Port Harcourt Refinery’s host community, Timothy Mgbere.

Mr Mgbere, who appeared on the Morning Show of Arise News Television on Wednesday, said only skeletal operations were in full swing at the Port Harcourt refinery.

He also said NNPC Ltd had only put on a show, with no representation from the traditional chiefs from the refinery’s host community in the Alesa community.

In his Friday statement, Olufemi Soneye, the chief corporate communications officer of NNPC Ltd, said Mr Mgbere’s claims were a “crass display of ignorance” that demonstrated a lack of knowledge of the refinery’s operations.

“The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has been drawn to a video clip of one Timothy Mgbere, a self-acclaimed “community person” who alleged that the much-publicised restreaming of the Port Harcourt and truck-out of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) which held earlier in the week were all false.

“We would have not bothered to reply to him considering that all his assertions were a crass display of ignorance which is consistent with his claim of being a ‘community person’ who does not necessarily have any knowledge about the workings of the Port Harcourt Refinery. But the need to set the records straight and not to mislead the public has constrained us to clarify,” Mr Soneye said.

The NNPC clarified that the old and new Port Harcourt refineries had been integrated with one single terminal for products load-out.

“This betrays his scant knowledge of the operations of the refinery. The Old and New Port Harcourt refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for products load-out. They share common utilities like power and storage tanks.”

According to Mr Soneye, this means that storage tanks and loading gantry which Mr Mgbere claimed belongs to the New Port-Harcourt Refinery can also receive products from the Old Port Harcourt refinery.

“The same person who claimed that the Old Port Harcourt refinery has its own separate loading gantry from that of the New Port Harcourt refinery further went on to contradict himself by saying that the PMS that was loaded out from the supposed loading gantry of the New Port Harcourt Refinery was “old stock” from the Old Port Harcourt refinery.

“So, how did the purported “old stock” move from the Old Port Harcourt refinery to the loading gantry of the New Port Harcourt refinery?,” the NNPC asked.

The NNPC Ltd said Mr Mgbere’s argument suggests that “old PMS stock” from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery can be moved to the loading gantry of the New Port-Harcourt Refinery for show, but newly produced PMS from the Old Port-Harcourt Refinery can only be loaded at its own dedicated gantry.

“This is nothing but ignorance on full display. There are a number of other wild claims made by the man, one of which was that the refinery was producing 1.4 million barrels per day. The nameplate capacity of the refinery is 60,000 barrels of oil per day,” Mr Soneye said.

The NNPC Ltd said the refinery is currently producing at 90 per cent throughput which translates to straight-run gasoline (Naptha) blended into 1.4 million litres of PMS, aside other products like diesel and kerosene.

“We call on the general public to disregard the claims of the self-acclaimed ‘community person’ which are obviously borne out of sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance,” Mr Soneye said.

On Tuesday, the NNPC Ltd said the Port Harcourt refinery had commenced production after a long period of rehabilitation.

It said the refinery began truck loading of petroleum products on Tuesday, 26 November.

READ ALSO: Port Harcourt Refinery operating at 70% capacity – NNPC

The Port Harcourt Refineries comprise two units, with the old plant having a refining capacity of 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) and the new plant 150,000 bpd, both summing up to 210,000 bpd.

The refinery has not operated maximally for over two decades. It was shut down in March 2019 for the first phase of repair works after the government secured the service of Italy’s Maire Tecnimont to handle the review of the refinery complex, with oil major Eni appointed technical adviser.

In 2021, NNPC Ltd said repairs had started at the refinery after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved $1.5 billion for the project.

On 21 December 2023, the Nigerian government announced the mechanical completion and the flare start-off of the refinery.