The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) Ltd in Rivers State has officially started processing crude oil, marking a significant milestone for Nigeria.
This announcement was made by Femi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), who described it as a monumental achievement for the nation. “Today marks the beginning of a new era of energy independence and economic growth for Nigeria,” Soneye stated on Tuesday.
He also congratulated President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the NNPC Board, and the leadership of Group CEO Mele Kyari for their dedication to this transformative project, noting that they are together reshaping Nigeria’s energy future.
Additionally, truck loading operations at the refinery are set to commence as part of the same effort. Soneye mentioned that the NNPCL is also focused on bringing the Warri Refinery back online soon.
The commencement of production at the Port Harcourt refinery ends a long history of missed deadlines. Initially, upon assuming office in August 2023, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, had promised that production would begin in September 2023, a timeline that was later delayed until December. By March 2024, Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director of NNPCL, indicated that production would commence in April, and in August, he emphasized the company’s commitment to revamping the nation’s refining capacity, expressing hope that Nigeria could become a net exporter of petroleum products in 2024.
The federal government had approved $1.5 billion (about 1.2 billion euros) three years ago to repair the PHRC, one of Nigeria’s largest refineries, which had been shut down in 2019. Despite being one of the largest oil producers in the world, Nigeria has long depended on importing refined petroleum products due to insufficient local refining capacity. This reliance on imports and subsidies has drained foreign exchange reserves, especially during periods of dwindling oil revenues.
In addition to the Port Harcourt refinery, the Dangote refinery in Lagos began producing petrol in September 2024 and has since started producing diesel and aviation fuel. The operational refineries are expected to alleviate some of the economic pressures resulting from the removal of fuel subsidies, which had previously kept petrol prices artificially low, causing them to surge from around N200 to over N1,000 per litre.
