By Adedapo Adesanya
The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr Mele Kyari, said it has fulfilled its pledge of achieving the mechanical completion of rehabilitation work on Area 5 Plant of the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC).
Rehabilitation work has been ongoing at the refinery for over two years and the NNPC Limited had pledged to complete Phase One of the project (mechanical completion and flare start-up) of Old Port Harcourt Refinery (Area 5) by December 31, 2023.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the rehabilitation project, which also coincided with the 15th Refineries’ Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting, Mr Kyari, said as of December 15, 2023, 84.4 per cent of Area 5 Plant, a key component of the refinery, and 77.4 per cent of the entire rehabilitation project have been completed.
“In our quest to ensure that this refinery is re-streamed to continue to deliver value to Nigerians, we made a promise that we will reach a mechanical completion of phase one of the rehabilitation project by the end of December and get the other plants running in 2024. Today, we have kept those commitments,” Mr Kyari stated, according to a statement by Mr Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the state oil firm.
The GCEO commended the NNPC staff and the EPCIC contractors for doing a great job in ensuring that the refinery achieved that significant milestone.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the NNPC Board, Mr Pius Akinyelure, described the milestone as “historic”, stressing that the board was proud of the staff and management of the refinery.
“We are just starting. We want to be at the highest level of production so that we will keep the prices of petroleum prices in the country stable to give comfort to our people and generate more revenue for our country,” Mr Akinyelure noted.
In his address, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Mr Ekperikpe Ekpo, said re-streaming the refinery will herald a good omen for the nation’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) industry, as LPG, also known as cooking gas, is a major by-product of the refinery.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of Tecnimont Nigeria Limited, Mr Fabio Del Cioppo, one of the EPC Contractors of the Rehabilitation Project, said his company remains committed to fulfilling the terms of the contract.
The rehabilitation project, which costs about $1.5 billion is an EPCIC project that covers the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning phases.
For Area 5, the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation have all been completed. The mechanical completion signifies the closure of the construction and installation phases.
The statement added that the phase was achieved under an excellent Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) record, which stood at over 9.5 million manhours with zero Loss Time Injury (LTI).
Modupe Gbadeyanka