The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) located in Rivers State, Nigeria has resumed its operations. This move is in line with the Nigerian federal government’s commitment to producing refined goods at the plant by December 2023. The refinery was shut down in 2019, and its closure led to a combined processing capacity loss of 445,000 barrels per day (bpd) in Nigeria’s four refineries situated in Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna, due to maintenance concerns.
In August, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), while inspecting the PHRC Ltd. plant, confirmed that the refinery would resume operations by December. During his visit, Lokpobiri stated, “Our objective is for Nigeria to cease fuel importation. From our observations today, Port Harcourt Refinery will resume operations by year-end.”
Over two years ago, the Nigerian federal government allocated $1.5 billion (1.2 billion euros) for the rehabilitation of one of its largest oil refineries. Maire Tecnimont, an Italian company, was selected to oversee the repair work at the Port Harcourt location, which has a production capacity of about 210,000 barrels per day. The rehabilitation process, according to the former Minister of Petroleum (State), Timipre Sylva, was structured in three phases, with a target of reaching 90 percent of the refinery’s nameplate capacity in the first 18 months.