The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Limited, in Rivers State, by December 2023, commenced operation on Wednesday, TheWill Newspapers reports.
Emerging videos from the facility on Thursday morning showed flares from the refinery, indicating that operations have indeed commenced.
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Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has consistently assured that the refinery will commence operation in December 2023.
While inspecting rehabilitation works on the refinery in August, Lokpobiri, said: “Our objective in coming here today is to ensure that in the next few years, Nigeria stops fuel importation. From what we have seen here today, Port Harcourt Refinery will come on board by the end of the year.
“Warri will come on stream by the end of the first quarter of next year, and Kaduna will also come on board towards the end of next year. If you add that to the Dangote Refinery, we will be able to stop fuel importation, and Nigerians will enjoy the full benefits of deregulation.”
Also, Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, had said, “I can confirm to you that by the end of December this year, we will start the Port Harcourt refinery; early in the first quarter of 2024, we will start the Warri refinery; and by the end of 2024, Kaduna refinery will come into operation.”
Despite being Africa’s number one oil producer, Nigeria has relied on imports of petroleum products because of a lack of domestic refining capacity. Fuel shortages are commonplace.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), in March 2021, approved $1.5 billion to rehabilitate the Port Harcourt refinery.
Nigeria had contracted an Italian firm, Maire Tecnimont, to carry out the repair work at the facility, which has a capacity of about 210,000 bpd.
Available data showed that over N11.35 trillion ($25 billion) had been spent in the past ten years in fixing the three refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna.
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