Presidency Provides Update on Second Port Harcourt Refinery, Speaks on Timeline for Completion

• Officials from the presidency, senior management staff of the NNPCL, and journalists conducted a tour of the Port Harcourt Refinery in Eleme, Rivers state, on Wednesday, December 4
• Bayo Onanuga, the special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, disclosed that the team also visited the co-located second Port Harcourt refinery, commissioned in 1989
• The presidential aide stated that although on-site experts declined to provide a timeline for the completion of the second Port Harcourt refinery, the facility would soon be active

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has a decade of business journalism experience with in-depth knowledge of the Nigerian economy, stocks, and general market trends.

Port Harcourt, Rivers state – Bayo Onanuga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Tinubu, has said a diverse fact-finding team recently visited the second Port Harcourt refinery.

The presidential aide noted that although officials declined to provide a timeline for its completion, “there was an air of confidence that it would soon be operational”.

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Legit.ng reports that Onanuga was part of a fact-finding team that visited the 60,000 barrels daily Port Harcourt refining complex in Rivers state on Wednesday, December 4.

Recall on Tuesday, November 26, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited announced that the refinery which has been moribund for years has started refining crude following years of rehabilitation works. This was met with some scepticism, thus prompting a tour by some select persons.

Noting that the team was “satisfied with what we saw”, Onanuga shared their findings on Thursday morning, December 5.

He said via his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle:

“We also visited the co-located second Port Harcourt refinery, commissioned in 1989. Workers were busy dismantling old, rusty parts and replacing them with new ones. Although officials declined to provide a timeline for its completion, there was an air of confidence that it would soon be operational, joining its 60,000 barrels a day counterpart.”

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Legit.ng reports that President Tinubu has already given the marching order for the restoration of the second Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries.

Also, the president believes the country is on the threshold of assuming its place as the hub of energy in the sub-Saharan African region.

MURIC eyes revival of Kaduna refinery

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that a prominent faith-based human rights organisation, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), said with the revival of the Port Harcourt refinery, the NNPCL should expedite the scheduled reactivation of the Kaduna refinery.

Professor Ishaq Akintola, MURIC’s executive director, argued that instead of turning attention to the Warri refinery in Delta state, the oil industry should focus on the Kaduna refinery “for security concerns, strategic planning, and geopolitical balancing”.

Source: Legit.ng