The Port Harcourt Refining Company has clarified that its operations were not completely halted but scaled down to facilitate improvements at the facility.
It disclosed this on Sunday as the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria insisted that it would not buy from the Port Harcourt refinery if the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited sells fuel from the plant at an expensive rate.
Oil retailers had claimed that NNPCL was dispensing petrol from the plant at N1,030/litre. This is about N60 higher than the price of petrol produced by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Although NNPCL denied the claim, it failed to state the price of petrol produced from the newly rehabilitated Port Harcourt refinery.
Speaking during a guided tour of the Port Harcourt refinery led by the Managing Director, Ibrahim Onoja, the Executive Director of Operations, Nigerian Pipeline and Storage Company Limited, Moyi Maidunama, said the plant was working.
Maidunama told journalists that there was a temporary hitch in operations, but explained that the reduction in operations was necessary to address technical issues and enhance capacity.
He said, “So, the operations were not halted. It was obviously reduced due to some improvements that we needed to make. We are managing the process with the number of trucks available today, using a few loading arms for evacuation. This should be resolved soon.”
He assured all that product distribution was ongoing, with several trucks loading refined products, and added that the process would continue uninterrupted.
The Terminal Manager, Port Harcourt Depot, Worlu Joel, confirmed that the facility had commenced the distribution of products, including Premium Motor Spirit, kerosene, and diesel.
He, however, expressed concerns over the low turnout of tanker drivers.
He said, “We have surplus products available and operational loading arms, but we’ve had to beg tanker drivers to come and evacuate products. We’ve loaded more than ten trucks already and expect to dispatch at least 15 before the day ends.”
Joel noted that the depot operates with 11 functional loading bays, but only three are currently in use due to their high efficiency. Each bay, he explained, can load three trucks in just 15 minutes.
“If you give us 100 trucks today, we can evacuate them in less than five hours,” he assured.
Highlighting the strides made at the refinery, the Managing Director, Ibrahim Onoja, said the plant had undergone extensive upgrades to improve efficiency and reliability.
“The plant is running, and we are trucking out our products. We’ve carried out a massive revamp, replacing most of the equipment, including pumps, instrumentation, and cables. What we’ve done here is a significant upgrade of the facility,” Onoja stated.
The PHRC team reiterated its commitment to maintaining consistent product distribution while ensuring that ongoing improvements enhance the refinery’s overall operations.
We stumbled over here by a different page and
thought I might check things out. I like what I see so i am just
following you. Look forward to checking out your web page repeatedly.
It is not my first time to pay a visit this site, i am browsing this web page dailly and obtain good information from here all the time.
Some genuinely nice and utilitarian info on this web site, likewise I believe the style contains fantastic features.