Presidency Confirms Port Harcourt Refinery Revival Amid Operational Rumours

In a bid to address mounting speculation about the Port Harcourt Refinery’s operations, President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, led a fact-finding mission to debunk claims of ineffective crude oil processing.

The delegation, which toured the facility on Wednesday, conducted an extensive inspection of the refinery’s critical sections, including its computerized control room and loading bay. Guided by Managing Director Ibrahim Onoja, the team verified the facility’s active production of multiple petroleum products, including kerosene, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas, and gasoline.

Onanuga stated that the refinery is receiving regular crude oil supplies, directly contradicting previous speculative reports. The recent $1.5 billion rehabilitation project involved installing 300 kilometers of new pipelines and replacing equipment that had remained unchanged for 27 years.

“Nigerians must ignore naysayers and false information about the refinery’s operations,” Onanuga declared, expressing satisfaction with the facility’s transformation from a dated infrastructure to a “state-of-the-art” facility.

The delegation also observed ongoing modernization efforts at the co-located second Port Harcourt refinery, with workers actively dismantling obsolete equipment and preparing for future operational readiness.

According to Onanuga, “During our visit, we confirmed that the refinery produces petroleum products, including kerosene, low-pour fuel oil, LPG, diesel, and gasoline. The latter is blended with other products to make the petrol we use in our cars. We even tested samples of the products.

“The revamping work has indeed brought the refinery back to life. What was once a 20th-century refinery has been transformed into a state-of-the-art facility.

“We also visited the co-located second Port Harcourt refinery, commissioned in 1989. Workers were busy dismantling old, rusty parts and replacing them with new ones. Although officials declined to provide a timeline for its completion, there was an air of confidence that it would soon be operational, joining its 60,000 barrels a day counterpart.

“My curiosity has been satisfied. I commend NNPC Limited and the refinery team for reviving this dead asset, which was on the verge of becoming a museum piece.

NNPC Chief Challenges Skeptics to Inspect Refinery Operations

Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari has boldly addressed ongoing doubts about the Old Port Harcourt Refinery’s operational status, extending a direct invitation to human rights activist Femi Falana and other skeptics to personally tour the facility.

Speaking during the commissioning of the NUPENG Towers in Lagos on Wednesday, Kyari said, “We invite all doubters to come and see the refineries for themselves.” He also defended the practice of product blending as an important and standard component of the refining process.

“Blending is not a crime; it is an integral part of refining. If you don’t blend, you will bring out off-spec products, which will destroy your vehicles.

“Every refinery blends because what is on specification in the United States of America will be off-spec in Nigeria and elsewhere,” he stated.