P’Harcourt Refinery Shuts Down Again After $1.5 Billion Rehabilitation

Despite a $1.5 billion rehabilitation effort, the Port Harcourt refinery has shut down once more, raising concerns about Nigeria’s oil sector’s stability and effectiveness.

Just under a month after it seemed that the Port Harcourt Refining Company had restarted operations, the facility has ceased functioning.

Our correspondent, who visited the refinery on Thursday, December 19th, 2024, noted that the distribution of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) had ceased.

Approximately 18 trucks were scattered along the busy road leading to the refinery, with nine additional trucks observed in the parking yard; meanwhile, the loading bay remained empty.

The depot, typically bustling with tankers jostling for space in the parking area, appeared deserted and lacked any vehicular or human activity associated with its usual operations.

Remember that on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, the Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, inaugurated a plant with a production capacity of 60,000 barrels per day. The event was met with celebration and fanfare following the approval and expenditure of $1.5 billion in March 2021 for the facility’s rehabilitation.

As the facility reopened, petrol was lifted amid the excitement of the cheering crowd.

However, contrary to widespread claims that about 200 trucks transported petrol from the bay that day, fewer than 10 trucks were actually loaded.

Our correspondent also noted that as soon as Kyari returned to Abuja, things quickly reverted to their previous state. This occurred amid allegations from stakeholders claiming that the petrol distributed during the inauguration was old stock taken from storage tanks.

Following the discovery, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria announced that operations were reduced to calibrate meters at the loading bay and remove water from old stock. This step was necessary to clear out existing inventory and make room for newly refined products.

Two weeks ago, tanker drivers arrived and began loading once more.

The refinery’s Managing Director, Ibrahim Onoja, also led journalists on a guided tour of the facility.

Onoja mentioned, “The plant is operational and we are distributing our products via trucks. We’ve undertaken a comprehensive overhaul of this facility and replaced the majority of its equipment.”

“The pump, instrumentation, and cables are all brand new. This reflects a significant change and upgrade to the plant.”

Afterward, there was a noticeable improvement as around 11 trucks transported products, and conditions were even better the following day.

However, when Saturday PUNCH visited on Thursday, it was discovered that production activities had ceased a week earlier.

Several drivers were observed resting in their trucks without any activity.

One of them, a Hausa speaker, mentioned that the lifting of PMS would continue next Monday.

He expressed doubt about the information, counting the days on his fingers and muttering to himself, “Three days; they said they would load it on Monday.”

With more security personnel dressed in black trousers and blue shirts, counting the number of workers and visitors became easy.

The guards were positioned at the depot entrance, the loading bay, and within the loading bay itself. They engaged in conversation to keep themselves occupied.

When asked if any explanation was provided, he responded, “I have no idea. No one is sharing information with us or informing us of anything. Some trucks that were parked here have already departed. I’m just waiting because my director instructed me to stay for a while.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Dappa Jubobaraye, a marketer of petroleum products, has expressed concerns about the condition of refineries in the country.

Jubobaraye claimed that since Kyari inaugurated the plant, there had been no production activity and suggested that it was merely for show.

He claimed that the event was designed to mislead Nigerians into believing that the refinery is operational, which explains why they organized it. On that day, only about four or five trucks were loaded with products.

The loading meter had not been calibrated before operations began. Out of the 18 loading arms at the bay, only three are functioning and they have leakages. As a result, they’ve been attempting to load various numbers of trucks—three, four, five, or sometimes even ten—to give the impression that everything is operational when it isn’t actually working properly.

Since Mele Kyari’s visit, independent marketers have been unable to load products from this depot because the NNPC has not set prices for ticket purchasing and product loading. Currently, only their own mega stations are being supplied.

The current situation is that PMS loading isn’t happening because there’s no intention to make this facility operational. It’s merely a tactic to mislead the public.

“When you enter this depot, you’ll see trucks lined up and assume they’re being loaded; however, the reality is that no work is taking place. Many tanker drivers have left because they don’t want to waste their time here.”

He went on to say, “How can you arrive here expecting to load up and end up waiting with your truck for two weeks? What’s the point of that? Until operations halted last week, they were loading between 10 and 15 trucks a day but never reaching 20.”

Typically, a single arm in the loading bay can load between 20 to 30 trucks per day. However, currently only three of the eighteen available loading arms are operational and they are exclusively handling PMS (petrol). DPK (kerosene) and AGO (diesel) have not yet begun being loaded. The primary concern for most people is getting kerosene.