The announcement was made Thursday by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Dr. Joseph Dawha, in Abuja after a tour of some filling stations in the country’s capital city.
He said the other three refineries in the country are undergoing renovation.
If fully operational, the four refineries have a capacity to refine 445,000 barrels per day while one of the refineries in Port Harcourt has a refining capacity for about 5 million litres a day.
Many Nigerians said this development would end the domination of oil cabal in the country who have often frustrated attempts to make the refineries work.
Rights activist, Biodun Showunmi, told P.M.NEWS that Nigerians had always clamoured for the refineries to start working so as to reduce the fraudulent dependence on importation of refined products.
Noting that since Buhari was sworn in, things have begun to take shape in the country, Showunmi said it would reduce fuel importation, while appealing for more refineries to be built.
He also demanded for a proper investigation of the reasons why despite various turn-around maintenance in the past, the refineries had not worked.
Festus Keyamo, a Nigerian lawyer and activist, said he hopes that the refinery would work at, at least, 90 percent capacity and be the beginning of a comprehensive turn-around of the others.
“This is what Nigerians have been praying for. There would be no more issues of subsidy and deregulation. We cannot be producing crude oil and be importing refined products,” he said.
The Managing Director of 247 Systems Limited and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Tom Aipoh, told P.M.NEWS that it was a good omen that the country was getting it right.
He, however, expressed doubt, saying the NNPC had always told Nigerians about turn-around maintenance in the past with nothing to show for it.
He also wondered if the NNPC had removed the impediments to the smooth operation of the refineries in the country, noting that there had always been issues relating to some cabal that had ensured the refineries did not work.
Barrister Allens Agbaka, a Lagoss-based lawyer, said it is one thing making announcements and the other is realising them.
He said it is not difficult refining products, as seen in the illegal refineries often established by militants, but that there had been a cabal holding the country hostage.
He said he was happy that Buhari is aware of the challenges in the sector having been a stakeholder in the sector.
“The era of subsidy which is a fraud and a scheme to favour some political associates who bankkroll elections is almost gone,” he said.
Dr. Ayo Olowe, the chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Lagos chapter, described it as a step in the right direction, adding that it would solve a lot of other problems facing the country.
Wale Ogunade of the Voters Awareness Initiative, also said he was waiting to see the refinery commence full operation to believe, owing to the antecedents of the NNPC which may just be playing to the gallery because President Muhammadu Buhari is now in power.
The NNPC Group MD had said: “the Port Harcourt refinery, which has reached an advanced stage, will start receiving crude by end of this month and then of course will start contributing to the available products in the country.
“At the end of the target 18 months, most of the refineries would have been rehabilitated to such level where they can actually process crude optimally to make contributions to the availability of products in the country.
Port Harcourt Refinery To Produce 5m Litres Of Petrol Daily – NNPC
The Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Joseph Dawha, on Thursday said the Port Harcourt Refinery might resume operation by July.
Dawha said this while addressing newsmen after a tour of some filling stations in Abuja with some top management staff of the corporation.
“When the refinery comes up stream in late June or early July we expect that it will run at least 80 per cent installed capacity.
“It will give us a contribution of about 5,000,000 (five million) litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) on a daily basis.”
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| Dr. Joseph Dawha, Managing Director, NNPC |
“If the refineries were not in depth or in good state to process crude for maximum gain there was no need of sending crude to such refineries for processing.
“What we do is to fix them so that we can get the real value for products.
“We are satisfied with the level of work carried out so far at the Port Harcourt Refinery so that if we start processing crude now we will get value for the refined products.
“So there will not be distraction as it will be, if refineries were operating properly.”
The GMD also decried the spate of vandalism of the pipeline in the country, stressing that the NNPC was working hard to put in place mechanism to minimise the menace.
He described the situation as “a very serious matter”, noting that NNPC could not use the pipeline network supply because of vandalism.
“If you send products through the vandalised pipeline then you lose the product.
“We cannot live it that way; we have to repair them but as you do that, it is vandalised again. It is a very serious matter.
“We are left with the option of trucking which involves a lot of logistics to succeed.”
The Managing Director of the Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Prince Haruna Momoh, condemned the recent vandalised system 2B pipeline of the NNPC in Lagos.
According to him, the system 2B pipeline in Ije Ododo in Lagos is the most vandalised structure.
He said that already the situation had been controlled and repair of the pipeline would soon begin.
“As at today, the NNPC imports 50 per cent of the petroleum products into the country as part of the 40 million litres daily consumption by Nigerians.
“The corporation will continue to intensify its efforts to wet the country with products from its coastal depots to inland depots.”
He said the NNPC was ready to work with all the relevant stakeholders in the downstream sector of the Oil and Gas Industry to end the lingering fuel scarcity.
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