PORT HARCOURT: Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
In a bid to reduce importation of fuel and make the forthcoming yuletide season worth celebrating, the Port Harcourt refinery, said it has commenced fuel production.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd confirmed this while speaking with journalists.
NNPCL spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, said the loading of trucks would start today, being Tuesday.
“Port Harcourt Refinery begins production. Truck loading starts today, Tuesday,” Soneye told our correspondent.
The process began in 2021 after the federal government secured a $1.5bn contract to rehabilitate the facility.
The first trucks of petroleum products will be lifted from the facility on Tuesday under the supervision of the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd), Mallam Mele Kyari, who toured the facility said.
Located at Alesa Eleme in Port Harcourt, the refinery complex comprises two operational units established in 1965 and 1989 and with a combined installed capacity of 210,000 barrels per day.
The older plant has a capacity of 60,000 barrels per stream day, while the newer plant has 150,000 barrels per capacity.
The refinery’s resumption is expected to further reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products and reduce foreign exchange pressures associated with fuel importation.
The PHRC is also expected to produce premium motor spirit, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas, among others