The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has announced that the rehabilitation of the new Port Harcourt refinery is over 90% complete.
The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) operates two refineries: an older plant with a capacity of 60,000 barrels per stream day (bpsd) and a newer facility with a capacity of 150,000 bpsd, bringing the total processing capacity to 210,000 bpsd.
This update was provided by Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, during a visit by leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to the refinery in Rivers State. Represented by Isiyaku Abudulai, NNPC’s Executive Vice-President (Downstream), Kyari assured that the rehabilitation would restore the refinery to a state of the art facility, comparable to the best in the world.
“When the rehabilitation is completed, the refinery will comply with global health and safety standards. It will operate efficiently to support the refining of crude oil into finished products needed for domestic and international markets” Abudulai said.
The rehabilitation is being carried out by contractor Tecnimont SPA and according to their progress reports, over 90% of the work has been completed. Once fully operational, the refinery’s combined capacity of 210,000 bpsd will strengthen Nigeria’s refining processes and improve the supply of petroleum products such as petrol.
Kyari emphasized that the refinery’s full operation would enhance Nigeria’s ability to meet local demand for petroleum products, reduce reliance on imports and enable exports. This, he noted, would contribute to the country’s economic growth.
Additionally, the NNPC has established a professional technical operations and maintenance (O&M) team to ensure the refinery runs efficiently. Kyari explained that the team would oversee processes, replace aging components, and ensure all equipment is fully functional.