Less than a month after operations resumed at the Port Harcourt Refinery following a $1.5 billion rehabilitation project, the facility has once again ceased production. The shutdown has raised questions about the effectiveness of the massive investment and the refinery’s long-term operational stability.
A visit to the site by PUNCH on Thursday, December 19, revealed that the lifting of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, had stopped. Observers noted that the usually bustling 18-arm loading bay was eerily quiet, with tanker trucks idling nearby or abandoned altogether.
The refinery, which was inaugurated with much fanfare on November 26, 2024, boasts a production capacity of 60,000 barrels per day.
During the launch, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) CEO, Mele Kyari, highlighted the facility’s new upgrades, including revamped equipment and modernized systems.
However, subsequent reports suggest that the petrol distributed during the inauguration may have been from old storage reserves rather than newly refined products.
Tanker drivers and marketers at the refinery expressed frustration over the lack of activity. One driver told PUNCH that trucks have been waiting for days without clear information about when operations will resume. “We’ve been told loading might restart next week, but I’m not optimistic,” he said.
Petroleum marketer Mr. Dappa Jubobaraye criticized the situation, alleging that the refinery’s reopening was more about optics than functionality. He claimed, “Since the inauguration, no real production has happened. They loaded a few trucks just to make it look like the refinery is operational.”
Meanwhile, the NNPCL has remained silent, with spokesperson Femi Soneye unresponsive to inquiries about the ongoing challenges.
