By Adewale Sanyaolu
With 20 days to the end of 2023, a former Group Executive Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr. Alex Ogedengbe, has expressed doubts over the workability of the Port Harcourt refinery by December 2023
Ogedengbe in a recent television interview noted that the refinery from all indications would not work this month, arguing that it it eventually does, the facility would not produce more than 25 per cent of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol.
Recall that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, had in August shortly after after inspecting the Port Harcourt refinery facilities to ascertain the level of work done assured that there is no going back on the December 2023 deadline for the refinery.
The assurance by Lokpobiri had equally on different occasions being re-echoed Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC Limited, Mr.Mele Kyari and the Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refinery, Mr.Ibrahim Onoja.
But, Ogedengbe further faulted the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, saying the Nigerian government ought to have built a new refinery which has new technology.
“Why is this old refinery being rehabilitated instead of building a new one? The Port Harcourt Refinery being rehabilitated by the federal government is an old refinery built in 1965 with different old technology,” he said.
“If what I heard from that short, nine-minute release by the MD of the refinery is anything to go by, at best they will have some kind of mechanical completion by the end of December.
“The old refinery that is being repaired now, cannot produce more than 25 per cent maximum of crude oil. In other words, one barrel of crude will produce a maximum of 25 per cent of petrol. Whereas, the newer Port Harcourt refinery which is next door to the old one they are repairing can produce up to 48 per cent or 50 per cent of crude oil,” he stated.
However, Onoja in defence of the December take-off date, in an update on the ongoing work at the plant in a television broadcast, noted that the procurement process for the rehabilitation of the refinery is now 98 per cent complete.
According to the refinery MD, over 75 per cent of the Port Harcourt refinery project is already completed.
“Over 75 per cent of this task has been completed and accelerated as workers run day and night shifts. We have completed most of the procurement, we have gone over 98 per cent, and most of them are now delivered.
“We have refineries in the world that are over a hundred years old. The basic static equipment which is the metallic part you see remains fundamentally the same. Upgrades happen over the years, yes, the Port Harcourt refinery was built in 1965, but as time went on, the instrumentation equipment was upgraded.”
The NNPC added that the instrumentation and control unit was also undergoing a complete overhaul, while the rotating equipment comprising pumps and compressors have been upgraded.
The MD stressed that the refinery rehabilitation had been on since April 2021, noting that up to 3,000 workers are working on the project and has recorded 8.3 million man-hours with zero lost time to injuries.