THE board and management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) said the 60,000 barrels-per-day Port Harcourt Refinery is operating at 70 per cent of its installed capacity, with plans to ramp up to 90 per cent.
The NNPCL in a statement issued on Tuesday, November 27, said the refinery is producing the following daily outputs: straight-run gasoline (naphtha): blended into 1.4 million litres of premium motor spirit (PMS or petrol); kerosene: 900,000 litres; and automotive gas oil (AGO or diesel): 1.5 million litres.
The refinery also produces low pour fuel oil (LPFO): 2.1 million liters and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG):
The clarification by the national oil company followed a claim by a media outlet( not The ICIR) that the NNPCL was not trucking out petrol from the Port Harcourt Refinery as it claimed on Tuesday.
The claim noted that the NNPCL instead bought “Cracked C5 petroleum resins” and blended it with other products, including naphtha to sell to the Nigerian public as though the refinery processed it.
The chief corporate communications officer of the NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, who issued the statement said the refinery incorporated crack C5, a blending component from its sister company, Indorama Petrochemicals (formerly Eleme Petrochemicals), to produce gasoline that met required specifications.
According to the NNPCL, blending is a standard practice in refineries globally, as no single unit can produce gasoline that fully complies with any country’s standards without such processes.
The national oil company noted that substantial progress had been made on the new Port Harcourt Refinery.
The ICIR reports that the refinery (both old and new) has a combined capacity of 210,000 barrels-per-day production with the rehabilitation on the old which has the capacity of 60,000 barrels per day now completed.
Giving further clarification on the development, the national president of the Petroleum Retail Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) ,Billy-Gillis Harry, told The ICIR that he had a first hand visit to the refinery and witnessed the crude distillation and refining at the facility.
“PETROAN was there from the beginning to the end. The refinery is on stream and has started its 60,000 barrels per day production. Petrol is already being produced there.
“There’s nothing wrong with blending partnership of refineries across the World for efficiency. It happens elsewhere. I was there and have the empirical evidence of what happened from the beginning to the end .
“I saw the process from which trucks where qualified to come in, we saw them being invited into the loading base area, and when the eventual loading started. We cannot with armchair criticism destroy our own. Everywhere in the world, petrol is cracked and blended.
He added: “Refinery is not a generator, it’s not just what you kick-start like a normal machine. There’s a process to get to the point where commercial quantity takes off.
The ICIR reported that marketers were already upbeat about the price moderation and affordability of petrol as the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) resumed crude oil processing after years of collapse.
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.
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.