The Presidency says that work is currently ongoing at the second Port Harcourt Refinery with installed capacity of 150,000 barrels per day.
The Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to Nigerian President, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement the first Port Harcourt Refinery with 60,000bpd capacity was operating at 70 per cent of the installed capacity and that there was plan to increase its production shortly.
He disclosed that the refinery receives regular crude oil contrary to claims of shortages of crude oil.
Onanuga, who issued the statement after joining a fact-finding team at the 60,000 barrels per day refinery on Wednesday said: “Putting to Rest Rumours about Port Harcourt Refinery Complex: Our Fact-Finding Mission. the lies and doubts about the refinery had been dismissed by the team’s fact-finding mission.”
He explained that the team was satisfied with the state of the refinery.
Onanuga said, “I was part of a fact-finding team that visited the 60,000 barrels daily Port Harcourt Refining Complex on Wednesday. I will now share our findings.
“Our team, guided by the refinery’s Managing Director Ibrahim Onoja, toured the entire complex, from the computerised control room to the loading bay and every section in between. We asked pointed questions and received satisfactory answers, dispelling our doubts and misconceptions.
“Nigerians must ignore naysayers and false information about the refinery’s operations. While it is not currently running at 100 per cent, it is functioning at 70 per cent installed capacity, with plans to increase production shortly.
“Furthermore, the refinery receives regular crude supplies, contrary to claims that it lacks crude to refine.”
He commended NNPCL for reviving “this dead asset,” on the “verge of becoming a museum piece.”
It will be recalled that in November 2024, the spokesperson of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Olufemi Soneye, announced the commencement of operations at the Port Harcourt refinery.
But the announcement was received with mixed reactions with some Nigerians praising the NNPCL for the feat after several postponements, while some others dismissed it, saying that the refinery was just a blending and storage plant.
