Photo caption: Port Harcourt Refinery
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had to shut down the Port Harcourt Refining Company to save its face.
IPMAN said the facility’s shutdown is insignificant to the Nigerian petrol market, stressing that the plant did not produce petrol for about three months before its eventual shutdown.
This is even as the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria argued that the facility will be of no value without the Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) blending unit, adding that 30 days will not be enough to complete the repair exercise.
In an interview with our correspondent, IPMAN’s Publicity Secretary, Chinedu Ukadike, argued that the refinery had not produced any fuel in the past few months, wondering why the NNPC was just announcing a shutdown now. NNPC announced the shutdown of the plant on Saturday.
In a statement, it confirmed an earlier report by our correspondent that the facility would be shut down for a month for maintenance. According to the NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, the shutdown commenced on Saturday, May 24.
“NNPC Ltd wishes to inform the general public that the Port Harcourt Refining Company will undergo a planned maintenance shutdown. This scheduled maintenance and sustainability assessment will commence on May 24, 2025,” he said.
Soneye added that the company was working with relevant stakeholders to ensure efficiency and transparency during the exercise.
“We are working closely with all relevant stakeholders, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, to ensure the maintenance and assessment activities are carried out efficiently and transparently.
“NNPC Ltd remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering sustainable energy security for Nigeria. Further updates will be provided regularly through our official channels, including our website, media platforms, and public statements,” he stated.
However, in an interview with our correspondent, Ukadike maintained that the 60,000-barrel-capacity refinery has not produced petrol in the past few months after it was declared operational in November.
According to the IPMAN leader, the new leadership of the NNPC ought to have ordered a complete overhaul of the facility, saying the announcement of a shutdown was just to save face, knowing full well that the facility has been running far below expectations.
According to Ukadike, marketers have been buying petrol from Dangote, while others resort to importation. He maintained that the shutdown of the facility for maintenance just six months after its commissioning showed that something was not well.
“For all these days, we have been buying petrol from the Dangote refinery, and some others are importing. The shutdown of the Port Harcourt is insignificant. It does not affect anybody.
“The refinery has been down for years before it was rehabilitated and reopened last year; now, they are shutting it down again. That means something is wrong. To the best of my knowledge, the refinery has not been producing anything in the past three months. This shutdown is just to save their face.
“Well, it does not matter the number of days or months this shutdown will last; what matters is, will it be able to come back to give Nigerians enough fuel and work effectively like the Dangote refinery?” Ukadike said.
Saturday PUNCH had reported that indigenous fuel retailers in Eleme, the community hosting the refinery, kicked against the plan to shut down the refinery, accusing some officials of sabotage.
On Saturday, the spokesperson of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Joseph Obele, insisted that the refinery had been shut down since Thursday. He feared that the shutdown might lead to job losses and fuel scarcity.
In a statement on Sunday, PETROAN President Billy Gillis-Harry expressed concerns over the development. According to him, though the refinery’s shutdown for maintenance is expected, the association wants the NNPC to adhere to the scheduled 30-day repair timeline to minimise disruptions to petroleum product supply.
PETROAN fears that the 30-day schedule might not be realistic due to usual bottlenecks, potentially leading to further delays and exacerbating supply challenges.
“The association is worried that delays in the old refinery’s 30-day rehabilitation schedule may worsen economic hardship for millions of Nigerians,” Gillis-Harry said.
In his demands, he requested the inclusion of a PMS blending unit in the maintenance activity. “PETROAN emphasises that the repair process must include the Premium Motor Spirit blending unit, as the crude oil cracking process is of no value without it,” he said. He also demanded the timely completion of the maintenance work.
“PETROAN demands that NNPCL complete the repair before existing stocks run dry to prevent market monopolisation and ensure a stable supply of petroleum products. Completing the repair on time will help maintain competition in the market, benefiting consumers and the economy,” he stressed.
Gillis-Harry recommended that the Minister of Petroleum set up a task force comprising all petroleum industry stakeholders to monitor the 30-day repairs. “The task force should brief Nigerians on the job progress every weekend to ensure transparency and accountability in achieving the 30-day repair schedule,” it stated.
PETROAN further recommended that payments to contractors handling the repairs be made promptly to avoid delays and ensure the project stays on track.
Meanwhile, NNPC spokesperson Soneye had earlier debunked claims of sabotage, saying the maintenance would ensure the safe and sustainable operation of the refinery.
“Please be informed that the refinery remains fully operational. However, we are preparing to undertake a scheduled critical safety maintenance exercise aimed at ensuring the continued safe and sustainable operation of the facility.
“This maintenance activity, which will follow global best practices, is expected to last approximately one month. To ensure uninterrupted supply during this period, we have adequate volumes of AGO, kerosene, and other products,” he said on Friday.
Recently, the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria said the refineries owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited can not optimally produce premium motor spirits but naphtha.
DAPPMAN’s Executive Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, clarified that his members would not go to the Port Harcourt or Warri refineries for petrol because the facilities were producing naphtha, and were not optimally producing the much-needed petrol.
“The NNPC refineries, both the revamped Port Harcourt and Warri, are not yet optimally producing PMS; they are producing naphtha. Our members will not go to them for now.
“But where we can get the product is Dangote refinery, and we are willing to work with Dangote refinery; we are willing to buy from Dangote refinery, but if we don’t get the product from Dangote refinery, the PIA allows us to import which is what we’ll go for,” Adewole said.
In November 2024, the NNPC said the Port-Harcourt refinery had resumed operations after years of inactivity. It said the newly rehabilitated complex of the old Port Harcourt refinery, which had been revamped and upgraded with modern equipment, was operating at a refining capacity of 70 per cent of its installed capacity.
The company added that diesel and Pour Fuel Oil would be the highest output from the refinery, with a daily capacity of 1.5 million litres and 2.1 million litres, respectively.
This is followed by a daily output of Straight-Run Gasoline (Naphtha) blended into 1.4 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, 900,000 litres of kerosene, and low-pour fuel oil of 2.1 million litres. It was stated then that about 200 trucks of petrol would be released into the Nigerian market daily.
The NNPC spokesperson, Soneye, stated this while replying to claims from some quarters that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing fuel, but blending through Indorama Petrochemicals.
“We are, however, aware of unfounded claims by certain individuals suggesting that the refinery is not producing products. For clarity, the Old Port Harcourt Refinery is currently operating at 70 per cent of its installed capacity, with plans to ramp up to 90 per cent.
“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; Automotive Gas Oil (AGO or Diesel): 1.5 million litres; Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO): 2.1 million litres; Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).
“It is worth noting that the refinery incorporates crack C5, a blending component from our sister company, Indorama Petrochemicals (formerly Eleme Petrochemicals), to produce gasoline that meets required specifications. 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,” Soneye disclosed in November.
=== PUNCH ===
