Nigeria’s Port Harcourt Refinery Company has commenced production of petroleum products after seven postponements and released about one million litres of refined products on Tuesday.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), which unveiled the refinery on Tuesday, said that the refinery, with the capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, had been revamped and upgraded with modern equipment.
It said the newly rehabilitated complex of the old Port Harcourt refinery is currently operating at a refining capacity of 70 per cent of its installed capacity.
NNPCL’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, told journalists in Port Harcourt said the bigger refinery in the Eleme complex that houses the plants, with a 150,000-capacity, had yet to be completed.
Mr. Kyari said that the bigger plant, including the Warri and Kaduna refineries, would come on stream later.
“We will deliver all the other projects. We are not going to give a timeline as he has directed,” the GCEO said while appreciating President Bola Tinubu for his support.
According to local media reports, officials of the NNPCL conducted stakeholders around the facility where they took samples of petrol, diesel, and kerosene, while some stakeholders who included marketers and the regulators also witnessed the loading of about 200 trucks at the gantry.
GIK/APA