Nigeria’s Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited, with a combined capacity of 210,000 barrels per day, commenced operation on Wednesday, December 20, 2023.
This is coming months after the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri disclosed in August that the Port Harcourt refinery will begin operation in December 2023.
According to a video uploaded on X, the refinery’s flare indicated the commencement of refining operations.
Earlier, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL stated that the country will stop importing finished petroleum products into the country by December 2024.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPCL, Mele Kyari, said, “I can confirm to you that by the end of December this year, we will start the Port Harcourt refinery; early in the first quarter of 2024, we will start the Warri refinery, and by the end of 2024, Kaduna refinery will come into operation.
In March 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.
The Nigerian government has so far expended N11.35 trillion ($25 billion) in the past ten years on rehabilitating the country’s three refineries.
With the commencement of Port Harcourt Refinery, stakeholders in the downstream sector predict a drop in the price of petrol which currently sells for over N620 per litre.