After Brief Resumption, Port Harcourt Refinery Goes Quiet, Loading Bay Empty – Report

The recent brief resumption of operations at the Port Harcourt Refining Company has quickly come to a halt, with the refinery’s loading bays now completely empty and activity at the facility subdued. This follows a highly publicized reopening on Tuesday, led by Melee Kyari, the Group CEO of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), who had announced that 200 petrol trucks were loading daily from the refinery’s newly inaugurated Area 5 terminal.

However, a visit to the refinery on Friday painted a different picture. Our correspondent observed that the loading bays, numbered from one to eighteen, were deserted, and no trucks were seen loading. Workers at the site indicated that the refinery was currently undergoing calibration, a process expected to last until next week. The workers, who spoke on condition of anonymity, explained that the delay was due to necessary adjustments to the loading pumps and meters before operations could resume fully.

An insider also revealed that the fuel being loaded during the initial resumption was not freshly refined but rather “dead stock” – old products that had been stored in tanks before the refinery was shut down in 2015-2016. These products, including petrol, kerosene, and diesel, were stored during the refinery’s extended downtime and were now being processed for distribution. The source clarified that the petrol being loaded was of poor quality and required further separation to remove water and meet commercial standards. Additionally, the kerosene and diesel were still being processed and had not yet been moved from storage.

Despite earlier optimistic reports from industry officials, including the Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Taken Ikpaki, who had promised that more trucks would come in to load products in the following days, no additional trucks were seen at the refinery by Friday afternoon. The few trucks that had been prepared for loading during the official reopening event were mostly filled with petrol, but the refinery’s operational capacity remains limited.

A worker at the refinery explained that while the team was focused on de-watering the petrol, they could not provide a clear timeline for when the loading would continue. Another worker confirmed that the ongoing calibration of the loading systems was causing the delays.

Local residents expressed frustration with the situation. One resident, Osaro from Eleme Local Government, noted that the promises of resumption made during the inauguration had not materialized into tangible results. “They continued loading on air, that is on the pages of newspapers and social media,” he remarked.

Despite these setbacks, Dr. Joseph Obelle, the National Public Relations Officer of the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), assured that the calibration would be completed soon and that operations would resume in the coming days. However, as of Friday afternoon, the refinery remained inactive, with workers and drivers idle at the site.

The Senate Committee on Petroleum had visited the refinery on Thursday for a facility tour, but details of the visit’s outcome have not yet been disclosed. Attempts to reach NNPC spokesperson Olufemi Soneye for further comments went unanswered.

The NNPC, in a recent statement, denied claims that the refinery was not producing fuel, dismissing accusations from local community leaders as “misinformation.” The company reiterated that both the old and new Port Harcourt refineries had been integrated, sharing common utilities and storage tanks, and urged the public to disregard any claims that were misleading or inaccurate.