Port-Harcourt Refinery To Start Operations By End Of July, Says IPMAN Official

Port-Harcourt refinery is all set to start operations from July onwards, as per the announcement made on Monday by the National Public Relations Officer of the Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chief Ukadike Chinedu.

The latest announcement came after the inauguration was postponed multiple times. The first announcement was made in December last year by Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Heineken Lokpobiri since the refinery was shut down in 2019 for repair work.

The IPMAN official said he visited the refinery and the managing director told him that the work was almost done and it will be ready by the end of July.

"It has been turned into a new one they changed all the armored cable to brand new and everything there is almost like a brand-new refinery," Chinedu said, Punch reported. "The turnaround on maintenance is very massive and the job is being done day and night."

"All hands are on deck to make sure that they meet that target. By ending of July, the refinery should be ready."

The official acknowledged the delays, but pointed out that the government had not shared any reason for the delay yet. He emphasized that the refinery was 99% ready and there were no challenges at all.

Chinedu explained the importance of competition in the market, adding that with two operational refineries, the petrol price would be reduced. He stressed that the Dangote refinery will also launch soon and the Port Harcourt refinery was almost ready too. Hence, it will be a good competition that will benefit Nigeria.

Dangote Refinery is slated to commence petrol production from next month onwards. Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited announced last year in May that the state oil firm will provide 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil to the Dangote refinery.

Speaking at the Africa CEO forum annual summit last week, chairman of the Dangote Group Aliko Dangote assured Nigerians that they don't need to import petrol from June onwards as Dangote Refinery will be enough to serve their requirements.

Previously, the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited Mele Kyari announced that the Port Harcourt refinery has received 450,000 barrels of crude and it is ready to start in April. However, the operations were delayed.