MARKETERS are upbeat about the price moderation and affordability of petrol as the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Ltd in Rivers State has commenced crude oil processing.
The refinery has a combined crude processing capacity of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity, according to data from Nigeria’s Bureau of Public Enterprise.
The commencement of operations was disclosed in a statement issued on Tuesday, November 26, by the chief corporate communications officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) Femi Soneye.
“Today marks a monumental achievement for Nigeria as the Port Harcourt Refinery officially commences crude oil processing. This groundbreaking milestone signifies a new era of energy independence and economic growth for our nation,” Soneye said.
He added, “Hearty congratulations to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the NNPC Board, and the exceptional leadership of GCEO Mele Kyari for their unwavering commitment to this transformative project. Together, we are reshaping Nigeria’s energy future!”
Soneye said truck loading would also commence on Tuesday (today), adding that the NNPCL is “working tirelessly to bring the Warri Refinery back online soon”.
The national president of the Petroleum Retail Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) Gillis Billy-Harry who also confirmed the development to The ICIR said, “I am currently headed to the meeting inside the refinery with senior government officials and hopefully this development will enable further downward trend in pricing since we have more refineries coming on board to enhance competition in the deregulated petroleum downstream sector.”
“Export, shipping, trains-shipment costs, and insurance are the costs that Nigeria won’t be paying when it refines large chunk of its imported petroleum products locally. Foreign exchange, which we are lacking now, will be saved also. It is a very welcome development for the sector, “he said.
“We will not be spending scarce foreign exchange for PMS import. Hopefully, this will help us save our forex and help in price stability since we now have other refineries such as Dangote Refinery working,” he added.
The ICIR reports that this official announcement ends a series of goal-post shifting on the resumption date of the Port Harcourt Refinery by the NNPCL.
Upon his assumption of office in August 2023, the minister of state for petroleum resources (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri said the refinery would begin production in September before it was pushed forward to December of that year.
Also, in March this year, the group managing director of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said the refinery would begin production in April.
The NNPCL failed to deliver on the promise.
“We are focused on delivering this rehabilitation project, our two other refineries, and all other investments towards revamping the nation’s refining capacity,” Kyari said in August when he inspected the rehabilitation work at the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Ltd
“We are hopeful that in 2024, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum products,” he added.
In 2021, the Federal Government approved $1.5 billion (1.2 billion euros) to repair the refinery which was shut down in 2019.
Despite being one of the largest producers of crude oil, Nigeria has over the years relied on the importation of petroleum products due to a lack of local refining capacity which put intense pressure on the foreign exchange.
However, in September 2024, the Dangote Refinery began petrol production, months after the plant had started operation.
With the coming onstream of the Port Harcourt Refinery and the Dangote Refinery already in production, Nigerians expect that these would cushion the impacts of the removal of fuel subsidy which hiked the cost of the commodity from around N200 to over N1,000 per litre.
Harrison Edeh is a journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, always determined to drive advocacy for good governance through holding public officials and businesses accountable.