‘November 26 To May 24,’ details of ‘scheduled maintenance and sustainability assessment’ that will take the 60,000 barrels daily capacity refinery off circulation
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) on Saturday announced a scheduled maintenance shutdown of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), beginning on May 24, 2025.
Platforms Africa reports that the refinery began truck loading of petroleum products on Tuesday 26 November after a rehabilitation that gulped $1.5 billion.
Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Femi Soneye, who confirmed the shutdown in a statement to Platforms Africa, added that the shutdown is part of a planned maintenance and sustainability assessment aimed at ensuring optimal performance of the facility.
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He said that further updates about the development will be provided regularly through official channels.
The statement reads: “The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) wishes to inform the general public that the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) will undergo a planned maintenance shutdown.
“This scheduled maintenance and sustainability assessment will commence on May 24,2025.
“We are working closely with all relevant stakeholders, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), to ensure the maintenance and assessment activities are carried out efficiently and transparently.
“NNPC Ltd remains steadfast in its commitment to delivering sustainable energy security.”
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What To Know
Platforms Africa reports that the Port Harcourt Refineries comprise two units, with the old plant having a refining capacity of 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) and the new plant 150,000 bpd, both summing up to 210,000 bpd.
The refinery was shut down in March 2019 for the first phase of repair works after the government secured the service of Italy’s Maire Tecnimont to handle the review of the refinery complex, with oil major Eni appointed technical adviser.
In 2021, NNPC Ltd said repairs had started at PHRC after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved $1.5 billion for the project.
On 21 December 2023, the Nigerian government announced the mechanical completion and the flare start-off of the refinery.
Background
Nigeria owns four refineries, two located in Port Harcourt and one in Warri and Kaduna. But the refineries have been moribund for many years despite Turn-Around-Maintenance (TAM) efforts.
The moribund state of the local refineries pushed Nigeria to depend solely on the importation of petroleum products for domestic use for many years, constituting a major drain on the nation’s foreign reserves.
For decades, successive administrations have promised and made moves aimed at reviving the nation’s refineries to reduce dependency on petrol importation but have failed.
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In 2015, former President Muhammadu Buhari pledged to revive the country’s minimally performing refineries to optimum capacity and boost foreign reserves by ending the importation of refined fuel.
In November 2018, the Buhari administration fixed December 2019 as the deadline for three refineries to attain full production capacity to end petroleum importation in the country. Later in the month, the deadline was shifted to 2020.
Even though the 2020 deadline was not realised, the government spent N10.23 billion in June 2020 on three refineries that processed zero crude.
In May 2023, the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on the state of refineries in the country said the federal government spent over N11 trillion on the rehabilitation of the refineries from 2010 to 2023.
In August 2023, the President Bola Tinubu administration assured that the PHRC would become functional by December after numerous failed attempts, noting that Warri would come on stream by the end of the first quarter of 2024, and Kaduna would also come on board towards the end of 2024. However, the timelines were not met at the time.
On Monday, the presidency announced that plans for the complete privatisation of Nigeria’s state-owned refineries are currently underway.
Platforms Africa
