Victor EzejaNigerians have called on the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to prove that Port Harcourt Refinery is working.
This comes as NNPCL denied that the refinery has stopped working a few weeks after it resumed operations.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelA report in The Punch said a visit to the refinery on 19 December 2024 showed that the facility was no longer producing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.
The report said the 60,000 barrels per day old Port Harcourt Refinery stopped supplying PMS on 13 December. The report said 18 trucks were littered on the road leading to the refinery and nine inside the parking yard, while the 8-arm loading bay of the refinery was empty during the visit, according to the report.
It would be recalled that the NNPCL led by Mele Kyari had on 26 November 2024, reopened the refinery for operations after $1.5 billion was spent on the facility by the Federal Government for repair.
Some trucks were loaded with petrol during the reopening ceremony as the crowd jubilated. However, reports indicate that only about 10 trucks lifted petrol that day, contrary to claims that they were up to 200 trucks.
Some sources suggest that even the petrol that the trucks lifted may have been old products dispensed from the storage tanks rather than newly refined one.
Two weeks ago, when the refinery briefly resumed loading, Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC), Ibrahim Onoja, had led journalists on a guided tour when he assured the public that the facility was working and supplying to the public.
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“The plant is running and we are trucking out our products. We have carried out an extensive revamp of this plant and changed most of the equipment. The pump and instrumentation, the cables are all brand new. So what we have done here is massive change and upgrade of the plant,” Onoja had said during the media tour.
However, few weeks after the statement, recent reports indicated that only few truck are in the facility, as others have gone after waiting for a while without loading and no concrete information on when they would load.
The Punch said the facility is now mainly occupied by security guards who stand watch at the depot entrance, loading area, and inside the facility. It cited a truck driver who said he heard loading would resume on Monday but expressed doubt about the information.
Port Harcourt Refinery Fully Operational -NNPCL
However, the NNPCL denied that the Port Harcourt refinery has been shutdown. In a statement on Saturday by its spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, the national oil company said the report is “false”.
It declared that the refinery is fully operational, claiming that it was verified a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC.
It further claimed that preparation for the day’s loading was ongoing.
“The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has been drawn to reports in a section of the media alleging that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery which was re-streamed two months ago has been shut down,” Soneye stated.
“We wish to clarify that such reports are totally false as the refinery is fully operational as verified a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC.
“Preparation for the day’s loading operation is currently ongoing.
“Members of the public are advised to discountenance such reports as they are the figments of the imagination of those who want to create artificial scarcity and rip-off Nigerians.”
Reacting to NNPCL rebuttal, social media users demanded that the company should prove to Nigerians that the refinery is truly working by improving supply across the country and also further slashing the pump prices of petroleum products.
“Where are the products and why is no one feeling the price of a locally produced petrol? “an X user, Chris Udoh with handle @CusUdoh queried. “Please refrain from misleading the public with fake news. I live in Port Harcourt close to the refineries But I have not seen or felt what you are talking about,” he further stated.
“If it is working, show evidence with steady supplies for 30 days at a stretch. No need to talk too much,” @Kabongo01 stated.
“This same template they use for Dangote, they expect you to dispense PMS. But they don’t understand technical issues. Give us loading date and new price that what Nigerians need to know,”@TundeJamiu5 admonished.
“A working refinery does not need a press release. We can see it and feel its impact,” @amourab wrote.
Another X user, @charlesIgwe14 urged NNPCL to NNPC give daily updates on the activities of the Port Harcourt Refinery if actually it is fully operational as claimed.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
