Port Harcourt refinery to begin production in two weeks

The Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC), will begin delivery of refined petroleum products in two weeks, Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, has disclosed.

Kyari spoke on Thursday, at the National Assembly, shortly after meeting with the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Turnaround Maintenance of the country’s four refineries.

He disclosed that the rehabilitation of the refinery had been completed, having passed its “completion mechanical” procedure. He indicated that the Warri refinery was almost ready too, while the one in Kaduna would be completed and ready to go into production in December this year.

“The completion mechanical means that you are done with your rehabilitation work; now you are to test if this completion is okay.

“As for the Warri refinery, we have also completed the mechanical works on it and it is undergoing the regulatory compliance processes with our regulator. This will also be completed and will be ready soon.

“Kaduna will be ready by December. We have not reached the stage where Port Harcourt and Warri are with Kaduna.

“All crude lines are active and have actually delivered over 450,000 barrels into Port Harcourt refinery.

“We are confident of its integrity. Yes, there may be security issues, but the government is responding to the situation”, he said.

Kyari earlier met with the committee, which is chaired by Ifeanyi Ubah (Anambra-South). The committee said its members would conduct oversight tours of the sites to verify the state of readiness of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries and the extent of work done in Kaduna.