Port Harcourt Refinery and the many possibilities under President Tinubu, By Fredrick Nwabufo

It’s stated that seeing is believing. However for the Nigerian, seeing alone is probably not sufficient. There have to be certainty and palpability not solely to the sensory apparatuses but in addition to logic. Bottomline, there have to be plausibility. I’ll try and put some logic into what Nigerians are witnessing at the moment as regards the overhauled Port Harcourt Refinery.

I used to be a witness to historical past yesterday, November 26, 2024 — the inauguration of the outdated Port Harcourt Refinery. Sure, it has come alive once more. It’s operational. To place it in our lingo, ‘’it’s working’’. It has acquired a brand new elixir after a few years of lethargy.

The 60,000 barrels-per-day outdated Port Harcourt Refinery, which was established in 1965, had suffered a sequence of aborted potential. Sure earlier administrations had did not restart this vital nationwide asset. In March 2021, the Buhari administration awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the refinery and restore works started in phases.

In his assertion welcoming the revival of the plant, President Bola Tinubu, whose robust and brave management delivered to realisation this seeming holy grail, acknowledged the basic position of former President Muhammadu Buhari in initiating the excellent rehabilitation of all of the refineries and thanked the African Export-Import Financial institution for its help in financing the mission.

The President additionally directed the speedy reactivation of the brand new Port Harcourt Refinery, the Warri Refinery, and the Kaduna Refinery. That is in furtherance of his imaginative and prescient of making certain the nation’s vitality safety and independence, in addition to financial development.

The President has undertaken daring and surgical reforms within the oil and gasoline sector. He issued 5 govt orders to unlock over $2.5 billion in oil and gasoline investments, amongst different initiatives. Along with his help for reaching native refining capability, at the moment, the billions of {dollars} beforehand spent yearly on petrol subsidy, which places strain on the naira, will be repurposed, and with new alternatives opening up within the sector.

The launch of the revamped plant on Tuesday was profitable however not with out an anticipated sputter of heterogenous reactions. Nigerians are completely happy to see the revival of this usually noised however slumbering asset. It’s occurring of their lifetime. Most younger individuals, together with myself, weren’t born when this refinery was arrange. In actual fact, many weren’t born when the refinery was purposeful and solely grew to listen to about its spasms of failures. It’s a residing, puffing, and respiratory labyrinth of engines at the moment.

Placing readability to deceptive claims over the resuscitated plant, the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Restricted (NNPCL) defined thus: “The Previous Port Harcourt Refinery is presently working at 70% of its put in capability, with plans to ramp as much as 90%. The refinery is producing the next each day outputs:

“Straight-Run Gasoline (Naphtha): Blended into 1.4 million liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS or petrol)

“Kerosene: 900,000 liters

“Automotive Fuel Oil (AGO or Diesel): 1.5 million liters

“Low Pour Gas Oil (LPFO): 2.1 million liters

“Liquefied Petroleum Fuel (LPG): Further volumes

“It’s value noting that the refinery incorporates crack C5, a mixing element from our sister firm, Indorama Petrochemicals (previously Eleme Petrochemicals), to provide gasoline that meets required specs. Mixing is a regular follow in refineries globally, as no single unit can produce gasoline that totally complies with any nation’s requirements with out such processes.

“Moreover, we’ve got made substantial progress on the brand new Port Harcourt Refinery, which is able to start operations quickly with out prior bulletins.”

Throughout a guided tour, journalists, trade leaders, and different stakeholders had been performed across the organs of the ability. From the management room to the processing items, the tanks, and the loading space the place vans had been stationed to raise merchandise. The plant was effectively and working.

Talking throughout a ceremony to herald the onset of product loading on the refinery, Mr Mele Kyari, GCEO of NNPCL, described the start of the loadout actions as a major achievement for Nigeria. He thanked President Tinubu for his help and understanding in direction of the mission and for his persistence to make sure vitality safety for the nation.

He additionally thanked the NNPC Ltd Board of Administrators and your complete employees for his or her help and dedication, which led to the reactivation of the refinery, and Nigerians for his or her endurance and for the real expectations on the corporate to ship on the opposite refineries.

There are well-founded considerations in regards to the sustainability of the refinery. That is the plausibility issue. However one factor is for certain in regards to the Tinubu administration, there can be no unfinished enterprise as regards securing Nigeria economically and making certain one of the best outcomes for residents throughout all sectors. With each horizon comes contemporary prospects, the administration is decided in its objective of advancing the nation.

Fredrick Nwabufo is Senior Particular Assistant to President on Public Engagement.