The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has provided updates on the status of the Port Harcourt Refinery and explained why it is not yet operational.
President Bola Tinubu has, on several occasions, promised the commencement of petrol production at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, but this has yet to materialise.
In an update on the refinery’s status, NNPCL’s Executive Vice President, Downstream, Adedapo Segun, addressed the delays and challenges while speaking in Lagos recently.
According to him, the Port Harcourt Refinery, a brownfield facility, completed its mechanical processes last December, and distillation began in August. However, unforeseen technical issues have hindered progress towards full operation.
Mr. Segun, while elaborating on the challenges, noted that some delays are due to safety precautions and the high temperatures involved in the refinery’s processes.
He explained that the distillation process heats up to 300 degrees Celsius, and even minor technical faults at such temperatures can halt operations.
He further compared the situation to that of the Dangote Refinery, a new greenfield facility, which also experienced a lengthy period between mechanical completion and actual fuel production.
He used the comparison to argue that the Port Harcourt Refinery, which was rehabilitated rather than built from scratch, should not be considered a failure despite not being fully operational nine months after its mechanical completion.
According to TheNation, Mr. Segun, however, expressed optimism that the refinery would soon begin producing middle distillates, stating that they are working towards starting production at the refinery very soon.
He said, “We gave our projections based on data available. The Port Harcourt refinery, a brownfield refinery, achieved mechanical completion last December and by August, we fired up the burners, meaning the distillation process has started. So, the Port Harcourt refinery has started the distillation process, but yet to produce products to tank specification at the moment.
“When the distillation is started, the temperature is raised over time and rises to as high as 300 degrees centigrade. At this stage, if anything goes wrong, because at 300 degrees, a lot can go wrong, you have to bring it down; you can’t intervene. It could be that the flames or the burner are not at the level at which it should be, because maybe the burner is clogged.
“You don’t go in there and unclog it at 300 degrees centigrade; you bring it to cool down, clean it up, you put it back, you start heating it up again. We’ve done this four times since August at the Port Harcourt refinery, and each time a different thing comes up. We have to bring it down to fix it. I’m very confident now that we are at that point now where I’m very, very confident all is set.
“Dangote Refinery achieved mechanical completion in May last year, started producing diesel (AGO) in March this year, which is about 10 months after. Port Harcourt Refinery, a brownfield refinery that we have rehabilitated, not a brand new refinery like Dangote refinery achieved mechanical completion in December and this is September, and we’re hoping to start producing middle distillates. The same middle distillates that Dangote refinery started producing in March, April, we’re working towards producing it in September. Have we been inefficient? That’s the question we need to ask ourselves.
“This is still nine months. But there’s a need to be fair in our expectations. We can set the range of when we think it (production) will happen. But this is a process that has to go through. It’s a process you can’t say, because I’ve said, I’m going to, I’m going to start producing in December, in January, or in March and there’s an issue with the process, and you just say, No, I’m not going to go through the process of getting things right. I’m just going to jump in and get this, get things going again. Safety is very important, and that’s why I do all I can to keep the people on the plants, away from the pressures of someone working in an environment that is in excess of 300 degrees.
“We’re optimistic. We believe that Port Harcourt Refinery will start producing middle distillates to tank this month. And we’ve said that before. We still believe that we’ve gone through everything since August. We’ve started firing up the burners again after we brought it down last night to fix something. This was thankfully an easy fix, and we are going to start eating it up again. So that’s basically what’s going on with the Port Harcourt refinery.
“But I’m very optimistic that products from the refinery will go to the tank this month. When you say that, you’re saying that because of what you see, if something unexpected happens, we can’t say because I’ve set a time now to force the process; nobody forces any process at 300 degrees centigrade.”
