P/Harcourt refinery products are in the market – Kyari insists

…Says blending part of refining process

…As Tinubu commissions NUPENG Tower in Lagos

Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), has insisted that the revamping of the Port Harcourt Refinery is not make-believe, noting that products from the facility are being sent to the market.

Kyari spoke in reaction to a demand by Femi Falana, a human rights lawyer and activist, on the two labour unions in the industry – Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), to tell Nigerians the true state of the Port Harcourt refinery.

Both men were at the grand commissioning of the newly constructed seven-storey NUPENG building by President Bola Tinubu, represented by Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), Wednesday, in Lagos.

The ‘NUPENG Tower’ on Jibowu Street, Lagos, is said to be the tallest labour union office building in Nigeria, with multiple power sources, including the national grid, generating plant and solar panel.

There have been arguments about the actual state of the Port Harcourt refinery since the NNPCL announced last week that the facility had been revamped and trucking out fuel.

Timothy Mgbere, secretary of the Alesa host community of the refinery, had countered the NNPCL, alleging that the 60,000 barrels per day capacity facility had yet to become fully operational. Mgbere also alleged that the refinery only loaded six trucks of petroleum products on Tuesday as against the NNPCL’s claims that 200 trucks would be loaded from the refinery daily.

Read also: Port Harcourt Refinery battles to refine image after $1.5bn makeover

The controversy is typical of the refinery, which has been plagued by a history of delays and setbacks, including seven failed deadlines for the commencement of operations at the plant.

But at the commissioning of the NUPENG Tower, Kyari said he was ready to take any Nigerian doubting the resumption of operations at the refinery, including Falana, on a tour of the facility.

“It is not fantasy, it is real. This is not a street talk. I am inviting you to see the level of work ongoing. It will shock you. It can be malicious to say it is not working.

The PH refinery is running and loading is currently ongoing. We are working for you all. 60,000bpd is working and running. We are sending the products into the market.”

Kyari said the nation’s refineries should not be scrapped; even as he said the NNPCL was working for all that there was no value for anyone to de-market the company, noting that blending was part of the refining process.

“Every refinery blends, there is no refinery where you open a tap and rinse out the gasoline so that it will not blend. There is no crime committed when you blend in a refinery. If we go the way it is done abroad, all your gas will go because of the environmental pressure. Requirements are different. Every refinery that mixes gasoline is a mixture of chemicals. There is no one chemical,” he added.

President Tinubu, in his remarks, called for a strengthened relationship with the unions in the oil and gas sector for the benefit of Nigerians, stating that the success of the oil and gas sector should be measured according to the success of the unions for higher production and more revenue for the government.

The president restated the Federal Government’s commitment to deepening the relationship with the unions in the sector and labour movement to achieve a win-win for all, including workers and the government.

Williams Akporeha, president of NUPENG, called for a collaborative effort to ensure Nigeria’s energy future is sustainable, inclusive, and equitable for all Nigerians.

“NUPENG workers are the ones who keep the wheels of our energy sector turning, despite challenges and adversities. We are the men and women who ensure that the lights stay on, that the economy thrives, and that Nigeria’s place on the global energy stage remains.

The commissioning also attracted key players in the labour movement, including Joe Ajaero, president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Festus Osifo, president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), among others.