The Federal Government, Thursday, confirmed that the Port Harcourt Refining and Petrochemical Company in Rivers State has “mechanically” commenced operations.
The good news was contained in a press release by the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC Limited, Mr. Olufemi O. Soneye.
The Federal Government announced that the facility commenced operations on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, as the first phase of work at the plant had been completed.
It added that refined petroleum products would start flowing from the refinery after the Christmas break.
More importantly, the milestone was achieved under an excellent Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) record, which stood at over 9.5 million manhours with zero Loss Time Injury (LTI).
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. has fulfilled its pledge of achieving the mechanical completion of rehabilitation work on Area 5 Plant of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC),” Soneye said in the release.
Rehabilitation work has been ongoing at the refinery for over two years and the NNPC Ltd., Soneye recalled, had pledged to complete Phase One of the project (mechanical completion and flare start-up) of Old Port Harcourt Refinery (Area 5) by 31st December 2023.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the rehabilitation project, which also coincided with the 15th Refineries’ Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd., Mr. Mele Kyari, said as at December 15, 2023, “84.4% of Area 5 Plant, a key component of the Refinery, and 77.4% of the entire rehabilitation project have been completed.”
“In our quest to ensure that this refinery is re-streamed to continue to deliver value to Nigerians,” Kyari continued, “we made a promise that we will reach a mechanical completion of phase one of the rehabilitation project by the end of December and get the other plants running in 2024. Today, we have kept those commitments.”
The GCEO commended the NNPC Ltd.’s staff and the EPCIC contractors for doing a great job in ensuring that the refinery achieved that significant milestone.
In his remarks, the Chairman of NNPC Ltd Board, Chief Pius Akinyelure, described the milestone as “historic”, stressing that the board was proud of the staff and management of the refinery.
“We are just starting,” Akinyelure enthused. “We want to be at the highest level of production so that we will keep the prices of petroleum prices in the country stable in order to give comfort to our people and generate more revenue for our country.”.
Also speaking, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the milestone was another landmark of the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
He thanked Nigerians for their patience and the trust they have in NNPC Ltd.’s ability to deliver on this huge project.
In his address, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, said re-streaming the refinery will herald a good omen for the nation’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry, as LPG, also known as cooking gas, is a major bye-product of the refinery.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Tecnimont Nig. Ltd., Fabio Del Cioppo, one of the EPC contractors of the rehabilitation project, said his company remains committed to fulfilling the terms of the contract.
The PHRC rehabilitation project, which costs about $1.5bn, is an EPCIC project that covers Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation, and Commissioning phases. For Area 5, the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Installation have all been completed. The mechanical completion signifies the closure of the Construction and Installation phases.
