…As doubts persist over resumption of refining
Controversy seems to continue on anything that has to do with price of fuel in Nigeria, whether it is from the Dangote Refinery or the newly refurbished 60,000 bpd Old Port Harcourt Refinery. This is as doubts have sprung up on whether or not real refining is going on at the Refinery.
The price doubt is because the refurbished refinery in Eleme, near Port Harcourt, has begun pumping out fuel that has no price. This may be same with other products that it may have started to produce.
This was confirmed in a statement issued Friday, November 29, 2024, by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) which reacted through Olufemi Soyeye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer.
Also, voices are rising to claim that the refinery has either stopped working again or did not actually resume effective refining.
The NNPCL had been at loggerheads with the Dangote Refinery over what is the price at which NNPCL is lifting premium motor spirit (PMS). Now that the NNPL’s Refinery has started truck-out on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, many expected a crash in price of fuel.
When newsmen nosed around in Port Harcourt to monitor prices and found that prices were still far above N1000 per litre, another controversy kicked in when marketers said they were given fuel by the NNPCL at N1,065.
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) reacted, saying the Port Harcourt Refinery Company Limited has not released any new purchase price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). They said they are still buying at the old price.
Reacting to this reaction, Soneye, said the company had not commenced bulk sales.
“We have not yet commenced bulk sales and we have not yet opened the purchase portal as we are still finalising the necessary processes.
“At present, the products we are selling at our retail outlets are what we bought from the Dangote Refinery, which includes the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) fees.
“The product from Port Harcourt Refinery is currently for our retail stores.
“Our prices are regularly reviewed and adjusted as required,” the NNPC Ltd. Spokesperson said.
The statement that provoked the NNPCL was issued by the former president of the PH City Chamber of Commerce who is now the National President of PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry on Wednesday.
The price controversy thus, seemed to shift between NNPCL and Dangote to NNPLC and their own Refinery and the PETROAN, an indication that in a deregulated-regulated oil economy, price transparency may be impossible.
Many observers in the oil city have reacted to the statement of the NNPCL that they released products without prices. They wonder if producers anywhere do offload products without price tags. They say this is an indication that things were not yet correct in the fuel business.
The controversy seems to elongate the doubts and worries that dogged the turn around maintenance (TAM) that has lingered for up to 20 years.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) had reported on Tuesday that the refinery began the first truck-out of petroleum products in view of the re-streaming of the rehabilitated facility.
Read also: NNPC clarifies community leader claim, says Port Harcourt refinery now 90% operational
The re-streaming and truck loading signaled the commencement of crude oil processing from the plant and delivery of petroleum products to the market.
The rehabilitated refinery is said to be currently operating at 70 percent of its installed 60,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity, with plans to ramp up to 90 per cent.
More controversies:
More controversies have reared their ugly heads. Now, a citizen has claimed that the refining was a hoax. Another source said the refinery has stopped refining again.
The NNPCL has however, dismissed such claims that the much-celebrated operationalisation of the Port Harcourt Refinery was false and does not process Premium Motor Spirit (known as petrol).
Latest reports in some online news portals said a resident of the host community of the Port Harcourt refinery who mentioned his name as Timothy Mgbere had claimed that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery was only operating skeletally and was not processing PMS.
Reacting to the claims Soneye (the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPCL) said the information by Mgbere was misleading and not true.
In a statement, Soneye said: “Timothy Mgbere, a self-acclaimed ‘community person’ who alleged that the much-publicised restreaming of the Port Harcourt and truck-out Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) which held earlier in the week were all false.
“We would have not bothered to reply him considering that all his assertions were a crass display of ignorance which is consistent with his claim of being a ‘community person’ who does not necessarily have any knowledge about the workings of the Port Harcourt Refinery. But the need to set the records straight and not to mislead the public has constrained us to clarify.”
According to Soneye: “He (Mgbere) claimed that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery was only operating skeletally and was not processing PMS. His proof was that the PMS truck-out was done at the gantry of the New Port Harcourt Refinery as against the gantry of the Old Port Harcourt Refinery. This betrays his scant knowledge of the operations of the refinery.
“The Old and New Port Harcourt Refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for products load-out. They share common utilities like power and storage tanks. This means that storage tanks and loading gantry which he claimed belongs to the New Port-Harcourt Refinery can also receive products from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery.
“The same person who claimed that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery has its own separate loading gantry from that of the New Port Harcourt Refinery further went on to contradict himself by saying that the PMS that was loaded out from the supposed loading gantry of the New Port Harcourt Refinery was “old stock” from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery. So, how did the purported “old stock” move from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery to the loading gantry of the New Port Harcourt Refinery?
“Going by the flawed argument of the so-called ‘community person’, old PMS stock from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery can be moved to the loading gantry of the New Port-Harcourt Refinery for show, but newly produced PMS from the Old Port-Harcourt Refinery can only be loaded at its own dedicated gantry. This is nothing but ignorance on full display!
“There are a number of other wild claims made by the man, one of which was that the refinery was producing 1.4million barrels per day. The nameplate capacity of the refinery is 60,000barrels of oil per day. It is currently producing at 90 percent throughput which translates to Straight-Run Gasoline (Naphtha) blended into 1.4million litres of PMS, aside other products like diesel and kerosene.”
The NNPCL spokesperson however, called on “the general public to disregard the claims of the self-acclaimed ‘community person’ which are obviously borne out of sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance.”
Fiercer controversies had dogged the resumption of refining as sources told an international online news outfit that there was no refining at the PH facility, siting non-readiness of the units that carry out refining.
Instead, the report said the PHR was buying a raw material from nearby Indorama Fertilizer to convert to fuel. The NNPCL reacted saying were getting C5 (pentane) for PMS production at the Port Harcourt refinery, from Indorama.
Many wondered how a fertilizer company would be producing C5 from natural gas, claiming fertilizer plants are not designed to produce C5.
Old wound:
Whatever the case, at last, loading of products began on Tuesday in the Port Harcourt Refinery to wipe away the doubts that beclouded promises of many years.
The NNPCL had said the refinery would spill products on that day but doubts had persisted due to many years of promise and fail.
This must be why many energy correspondents in Port Harcourt laid siege around the gates of the refinery to see things for themselves in the face of frequent claims by the NNPC that the refinery was ready.
A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, had said in his official X handle early on Tuesday that 200 trucks were expected to load products daily from the refinery, renewing the hopes of Nigeria. Eye witnesses said they saw about 50 trucks.
Thus, reporters in the oil sector usually pull their internal sources to report the actual each time such claims were announced in Abuja.
This time, however, the local reporters laid siege as usual but learnt that loading began at noon.
It was gathered that activities began about one month ago inside the refinery to lead to loading on Tuesday, November 26, 2024. Trucks loaded PMS (fuel) and AGO (diesel) from the depot. There was no confirmation of other products especially KPK (kerosene) which most household crave for.
One litre (Ragolis bottle) of kerosene is sold N2,200 in Port Harcourt, mostly sourced from illegal refining. With massive crackdown by the Navy and Tompolo’s Tantita boys, the source seems scarce these days.
By not resuming the production of kerosene, households may not have reason to join in the jubilation for the resumption of the PH Refinery.
Inside sources said trucks started lining up at the depot early on Tuesday to load products.
A source said the products were stored in a tank because work was still in progress.
The refinery was shut down for nearly two decades, specifically from 2002 to 2020, due to a combination of factors, including lack of maintenance, technical issues, and funding constraints.
Rehabilitation plans had gone into hitches leading to the Olusegun Obasanjo regime selling it off. Labour struck and it was re-acquired, yet, it remained dormant until huge loans were procured to rehabilitate it.
Now, a new controversy has ensued over pricing. Nigeria now seems to have three prices for PMS: The imported price, the Dangote price, and the PH Refinery price. More fireworks may persist.
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