The 53-year-old Port Harcourt Refinery is at 78% completion; Ibrahim Onoja, the Managing Director of the Refinery made this known recently. According to him, the refinery rehabilitation has been ongoing since April 2021.
About 3000 experts are working on the project, and over 98% of the procurements have been delivered. Onoja noted that although there are refineries in the world that are over a hundred years old, the essential static equipment, which is the metallic part, remains fundamentally the same. He said, “Upgrades happen over the years. The Port Harcourt refinery was built in 1965, but the instrumentation equipment was upgraded as time passed.”
The 53-year-old refinery is undergoing an overhaul and change of major equipment. The electrical systems, which include substations, transformers, switchgear, cables and panels, are all brand new. Also, static equipment like tanks, heater columns and drums are being refurbished.
The Port Harcourt Refinery Boss stated that the rehabilitation project has recorded 8.3 million person-hours with zero lost time to injuries. Onoja believes the refinery will be ready soon. He noted that operations will begin this month with the production of petrol, liquefied petroleum gas, kerosene, low and high-pour fuel oil, and diesel.
Recall that last month, Mele Kyari, the GCEO at NNPCL, stated that by the end of December, the Port Harcourt refinery will commence operations. Additionally, in early 2024, the Warri refinery is slated to start operating, and by the end of the same year, the Kaduna refinery will follow suit.
Kyari affirmed this commitment, inviting accountability, asserting that these initiatives, including refinery rehabilitation, will transform Nigeria into a net exporter of petroleum products by 2024.
