After resuming production, less than a month, the Port-Harcourt Refinery has ceased operations for the second time, raising concerns about the effectiveness of its $1.5 billion rehabilitation project.
The shutdown was reportedly observed on Thursday, December 19, 2024, when the lifting of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, stopped.
SaharaReporters had also in November ending reported that the Port-Harcourt refinery shut down operation “at the moment” with only its non-petroleum unit running which is the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).
The CDU produces naphtha, kerosene and diesel but cannot produce the component which is needed for the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol, top sources at the refinery had disclosed to SaharaReporters.
SaharaReporters has been monitoring developments at the refinery since Tuesday when the NNPCL initially claimed the refinery was up and trucking out PMS to the Nigerian public.
SaharaReporters had exclusively reported that only the old section of the Port-Harcourt refinery was working and it was blending “Crack C5 with the Naphtha” and trucking it out as Premium Motor Spirit, which some staff warned would have an “effect” on vehicles.
The top sources had clarified to SaharaReporters that the NNPCL came up with the idea of blending Crack C5 with the Naphtha from the primary units because the secondary units are not ready yet.
Meanwhile, sources revealed to PUNCH on Saturday that loading operations at the refinery’s 18-arm loading bay had been halted since Friday, December 13, leaving the bay empty.
Tankers that typically crowd the refinery’s premises were seen stranded, with 18 trucks parked along the busy access road and nine inside the parking yard.
The depot, once a hub of activity, was eerily quiet, with minimal human or vehicular movement.
The 60,000-barrel-per-day plant, inaugurated with much fanfare on November 26, 2024, by Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) CEO Mele Kyari, was intended to signal a new era in Nigeria’s energy production.
The rehabilitation project, approved in March 2021, aimed to revamp the facility, which had been dormant for years.
The latest shutdown has generated questions about the viability of the refinery’s operations and the accountability surrounding the multi-billion-dollar rehabilitation investment.
However, contrary to claims of 200 trucks being loaded, fewer than 10 trucks carried petrol that day.
Shortly after NNPC Group Chief Executive Officer Mele Kyari returned to Abuja, operations reportedly reverted to inactivity.
Stakeholders alleged that the petrol lifted during the reopening was old stock from the storage tanks.
Three weeks later, the loading bay was discovered to be deserted.
Meanwhile, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria explained that operations were scaled down for meter calibration and the de-watering of old stock to prepare for newly refined products.
