Port Harcourt refinery begins operation

On Wednesday, the Port Harcourt Refining Company, PHRC, Limited, went into operation. Its total daily capacity is 210,000 barrels.

Fuel refining began when the refinery flared, as seen in the video below.

The announcement comes months after Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the minister of state for petroleum (oil), declared in August that the Port Harcourt refinery will start operations in December 2023.

The Minister claims that the goal is to guarantee that the nation ceases importing fuel.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, or NNPCL, said that it will stop importing petroleum products into the nation by December 2024, supporting Lokpobiri’s position.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said, “I can confirm to you that by the end of December this year, we will start the Port Harcourt refinery; early in the first quarter of 2024, we will start the Warri refinery, and by the end of 2024, Kaduna refinery will come into operation.

The Federal Executive Council authorized $1.5 billion in March 2021 for the Port Harcourt Refinery’s renovation.

As a result, data indicated that the three refineries in Nigeria have required N11.35 trillion ($25 billion) in repairs over the last 10 years by the Nigerian government.

Stakeholders in the downstream industry have stated that the price of fuel, which is currently over N617 per litre, may decrease with the opening of the Port Harcourt Refinery.