The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has again denied claims that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery, recently re-streamed two months ago, has ceased operations.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the NNPCL Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, clarified that the refinery remains operational, with preparations for loading activities actively underway.
According to the statement, “We wish to clarify that such reports are totally false as the refinery is fully operational as verified a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC.
“Preparation for the day’s loading operation is currently ongoing.”
“Members of the public are advised to discountenance such reports as they are the figments of the imagination of those who want to create artificial scarcity and rip-off Nigerians,” Soneye added.
Earlier, SaharaReporters reported that after resuming production, less than a month, the Port-Harcourt Refinery had ceased operations for the second time, raising concerns about the effectiveness of its $1.5 billion rehabilitation project.
The shutdown was observed on Thursday, December 19, 2024, when the lifting of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, stopped.
SaharaReporters had also in November ending reported that the Port-Harcourt refinery shut down operation “at the moment” with only its non-petroleum unit running which is the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).
The CDU produces naphtha, kerosene and diesel but cannot produce the component which is needed for the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol, top sources at the refinery had disclosed to SaharaReporters.
SaharaReporters has been monitoring developments at the refinery after the NNPCL initially claimed the refinery was up and trucking out PMS to the Nigerian public.
SaharaReporters had exclusively reported that only the old section of the Port-Harcourt refinery was working and it was blending “Crack C5 with the Naphtha” and trucking it out as Premium Motor Spirit, which some staff warned would have an “effect” on vehicles.
The top sources had clarified to SaharaReporters that the NNPCL came up with the idea of blending Crack C5 with the Naphtha from the primary units because the secondary units are not ready yet.
