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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has dismissed allegations made by Timothy Mgbere, a self-proclaimed “community person,” regarding the operations of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
In a widely circulated video, Mgbere claimed that the recently publicized resumption of refining operations and truck-out of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) at the facility were fabricated.
In a statement issued on Friday, Olufemi Soneye, NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, described the claims as a “crass display of ignorance. He clarified that while the company would typically avoid responding to such misinformation, it was compelled to set the record straight to prevent public confusion.
Mgbere alleged that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery was operating minimally and not processing PMS, citing that truck-out activities occurred at the New Port Harcourt Refinery’s gantry. NNPC explained that the two refineries have been integrated, sharing utilities such as power, storage tanks, and a single terminal for product loading. Therefore, products processed at the Old Refinery can also be dispatched from the New Refinery’s gantry.
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The company highlighted contradictions in Mgbere’s statements, noting that while he claimed the Old Refinery was not operational, he also suggested that “old stock” PMS from the facility was being loaded at the New Refinery’s gantry. NNPC questioned how the alleged “old stock” could have been moved to the shared gantry if the Old Refinery was non-functional.
“There are a number of other wild claims made by the man, one of which was that the refinery was producing 1.4million barrels per day. The nameplate capacity of the refinery is 60,000barrels of oil per day. It is currently producing at 90 per cent throughput which translates to Straight-Run Gasoline (Naptha) belnded into 1.4million litres of PMS, aside other products like diesel and kerosene.
“We call on the general public to disregard the claims of the self-acclaimed ‘community person’ which are obviously borne out of sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance,” the statement added.
