Shocking, Port Harcourt refinery stops working days after operation resumed – Investigation

Shocking, Port Harcourt refinery stops working days after operation resumed – Investigation

 

The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) has stopped production of petroleum products days after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited boldly announced the resumption of the refinery’s operation, which instantly elicited jubilation across the country.

Photos and videos of loading of fuel trucks from the just rehabilitated refinery on the day of announcement were flaunted on the internet, generously used by both conventional and online media.

However, an investigation by a reporter who visited the refinery on Friday showed that the facility was idle, with no visible signs of operation.

This tallies with the position of a Rivers State community leader (from Alesa), Timothy Mgbere, who declared that the refinery was yet to start producing fuel.

Indeed, Mgbere who came on a national television on Thursday accused the NNPCL of lying to Nigerians and faulted the claim that the revived facility was already processing 1.4 million barrels of fuel per day.

Although he confirmed that the refinery had commenced skeletal service, he said the NNPCL only sent out old stock of fuel in the so-called first loading to mark its resumption.

“They released that stock and then loaded six trucks and then televised it to Nigerians that it is the production from the old refinery. That is not true,” he said.

A report by PUNCH in Saturday also quoted one of refinery’s workers as revealing that the loaded trucks contained ‘dead stock’.

He said, “Before the refinery was shut down between 2015/2016, we had dead stock left in the tank, including some Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) DPK (kerosene), and Automated Gas Oil (diesel). These products were in large quantities in stores in those tanks.

“So, the product that was loaded was dead stock, that is the old product that was in the system.

“So, after these dead stocks, they will have to clean the tank, remove all the debris before pumping the new project into that tank, and redye it.”

It was also leant that the facility was still undergoing a calibration process, which might continue until next week.

The NNPC had earlier proudly claimed that trucks had commenced loading petroleum products, including petrol, diesel and kerosene from the refinery but would restrict its fuel supply to the NNPCL retail outlets for now.

The Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPCL, Femi Soneye, came out to debunk Mgbere’s claim that the refinery was not producing fuel and declared that it was operating at 90 per cent capacity.

He tried to rubbish any contrary report describing it as “sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance.”

But Mgbere insisted, “Let it be clear here; no single product has moved from the Port Harcourt refinery area into the product reception area of the depot.”

He stressed the need for a complete system audit to establish the true status of the refinery’s operations.