The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), Mele Kyari, said the Port Harcourt refinery will commence operations in two weeks.
As Nigerians continue to anticipate the full operation of the refurbished ailing refineries in the country, Kyari said mechanical works have been completed on the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, adding that the Kaduna refinery will follow suit in December.
He made this known in a press briefing yesterday after he appeared before the Senate Ad-hoc Committee investigating the various Turn Maintenance projects of the country’s refineries.
He said, “We are serving this country with honour and dignity. And we will make sure that the promises we make on the rehabilitation of these refineries will take place.
“As we disclosed in December, we completed the refinery mechanically. The refinery is currently filled with crude oil. I can assure you that the Port Harcourt refinery will begin operations within the next two weeks. We are now conducting the regulatory compliance test that is required in every refinery before it commences operations.
“Completing the mechanical work means that you are done with the rehabilitation work, now you have to test to see how it works. Of course, we have also completed the mechanical work on the Warri refinery. It is also undergoing regulatory compliance; processes that we are doing with our regulator, and this will soon be completed and it will be ready.
“Kaduna refinery will be ready by December. We have not reached that stage in Kaduna, but we promise Kaduna will be delivered by December.”
The NNPC GMD also told the Senate that over 450, 000 barrels of oil had been stocked into the Port Harcourt refinery.
He said, “All crude lines are active and have delivered over 450,000 barrels into Port Harcourt refinery.
“We are confident of the integrity of it. Yes, there may be security issues, but also government is responding to the situation.”
In a related development, the Senate has rejected the purported report of fraud in the Turn Around Maintenance project that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited is now carrying out for the country’s refineries.
Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, the chairman of the Senate ad hoc panel, informed his colleagues that no fraudulent practices had been found during the exercise and that he already had some documentation on the TAM.
Ubah said the country would want to know that progress is being made on the rehabilitation of the refineries: “I have seen some documents indicating that something is being done and there is nothing to suggest that there is a foul play in the exercise.”
He said members of the committee would visit all the refineries to ascertain the progress of work there so that a comprehensive report would be presented to the Senate in plenary soonest.
A member of the ad-hoc committee, Senator Mpigi Barnada, asked the NNPCL management to pay attention to the security challenges in the oil-rich region.
He warned that it would not augur well if the refineries were fixed and insecurity continued to escalate and prevented crude from getting to the refineries.
