…Nigerians skeptical about resumption of operations
The lights and flare of the old Port Harcourt refinery (also known as Area 5) at Alesa Eleme, Rivers State were on Friday activated as the contractors handling the rehabilitation of the plant prepared it for the final commissioning.
The bright lights around the plant and the glow from the flare created a galaxy of stars around the complex and excited people and communities around the refinery. This result had come after several weeks of trying to start up the plant following the mechanical and other completions, a source at the plant told National Point.
One engineer that worked on the rehabilitation told National Point that the old plant has been essentially completed and the contractors were moving to the new refinery complex to continue with the rehabilitation project. “It is now left for the powers that be to allow the refinery work,” the engineer, who did not want his name in print said.
However many Nigerians have become skeptical about the plant getting back on stream following repeated failed hopes raised by both government and NNPCL about the completion of the plant and uncertain sources of crude oil to feed the plant.
The contract for the rehabilitation of the entire Port Harcourt refinery complex was signed between the Nigerian government and Tecnimont, an Italian firm as the main contractors in April 2021. The project was to be delivered in phases over a four-year period with the old refinery plant coming on stream within 24 months.
After a slow start, the project ground to a halt under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari because of default in funding. But the project was revived in August 2023, four months after the first phase was due to be delivered following an intervention by President Bola Tinubu.
A December 2023 date was set for the inauguration of the old refinery. But that could not work out as only the mechanical completion of the plant was achieved. The electrical, sandblasting of the pipelines and other ancillary connections could not be finished. The first quarter, second quarter and even third quarter of 2024 completion dates set by the Federal Government were not met either.
With the completion of the old refinery, which has the capacity to refine 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day, Nigerians will now be hoping that the price of petroleum products in the country would drop and reduce the cost of living that worsened after President Bola Tinubu withdrew subsidy from fuel mid last year.
The hopes raised by the lights at the old Port Harcourt refinery came as the Presidency expressed concern about Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited’s failure to meet key milestones crucial to President Tinubu’s administration’s goals.
The Cable, the online publication cited Hadiza Bala Usman, special adviser to President Tinubu on policy and coordination and head of the central results delivery coordination unit (CRDCU) as voicing these concerns during a review of the quarterly performance assessment of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
“Usman highlighted government’s anxiety over several unfinished projects by the NNPC, particularly the ongoing delays in completing state-owned refineries, including the Port Harcourt refinery.
“Usman pointed out that despite the “mechanical completion” of a section of the refinery on December 21, 2023, and assurances that operations would begin after Christmas, the NNPC postponed the start of operations to April 2024. However, there has yet to be an update on whether production will commence this month, according to the source.”
It said Usman lamented that the constant rescheduling of the refinery’s production start date was eroding the confidence of Nigerians in the government. “And as an administration, we cannot allow that,” Usman reportedly stated.
Nigerians have also been reacting to the news of the refinery. Eddie Harry wondered if the contractors were not using LPG to light up the flare line “just to deceive Nigerians that the flare is up for production.”
Olacks Johnson was however optimistic. He said, “If it can get up to this point, then the truck out will commence before you can even think of it or before you know it.”
Ogbuji Abbey said, “We want PMS, AGO,DPK and LPG to start flowing from the refinery.” Paul Olua Kattey, who said the process of starting the plant had been commenced for weeks now said that most probably, the plant has started working.
But Ibimina Amachree, a lawyer, wanted to know where the crude oil to process at the refinery would come from given that Nigeria’s current production output falls far below the quota allocated it by OPEC. “Nigeria cannot afford to divert oil meant for international markets to local refineries because it needs petrodollars from foreign buyers. The country is very broke now and needs all the dollars it can get. No government in such a precarious situation would sell its oil to local refineries, unless it as enough. For now there is no crude to share to local refineries,” Amachree said.
The lawyer said the only way out is for the refineries to get crude oil from external sources and sell fuel cheaply. “We are in for a long ride,” he lamented.
