The event of Tuesday, November 26, 2024 which birthed the re-streaming of the newly rehabilitated Port Harcourt refinery is a testament to the fact that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu genuinely has the capacity and the moral rectitude to live up to its renewed hope agenda to revive all of Nigeria’s decapitated refineries and re-start domestic production of refined petroleum products.
This success story also underscores the quality of leadership in Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) as presently constituted under Engineer Mele Kyari, the Group Managing Director. Kyari’s hard work has played a significant role in the company’s success and has contributed significantly to the growth of the energy sector in Nigeria.
NNPC Ltd, which has been in transition since the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), has been championing the push to transform Nigeria into a gas-powered nation in keeping with its enormous natural endowment with over 209 trillion cubic feet proven natural gas reserves.
The leadership is equally leaving no stone unturned at putting an end to refineries that her rotting away and losing billions of Naira in a market that depends on imported petroleum products.
With no shred of doubt the proverbial maxim, “dry bone shall rise again’’ becomes profoundly suitable to the long-moribund and wobbly state of the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC) Limited in Rivers State.
The near–dead refinery has now began to exude a heartwarming hope to the teaming consumers of petroleum products in Nigeria, courtesy of NNPCL as demonstrated in its unrepentant rescue mission which has successfully brought the facilities back to life.
It is recalled that the company comprises two refineries: the first was built 54 years ago (1965) with a 60,000 barrels capacity per day while the second one with about 150,000 barrels per day was commissioned in 1989, bringing it to a total of 210,000 barrels capacity per day. The glory of the company began to wane years back, alongside with the ones sited in Warri (Delta State) and Kaduna in Kaduna State due to some unmitigated technical facilities failure.
Records also show that the PHRC in particular had its last Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) 24 years ago leading to its near-zero production capacity level of products – AGO (diesel), premium motor spirit (PMS) referred to as petrol and kerosene to meet the demand of consumers in Rivers State and across the country at large.
Consequently, it has been an endless tales of woe for Nigerians who without choice have to depend on imported products, especially PMS, to hedge on subsidy masquerade.
Most baffling is that successive NNPC management via the Federal Government had carried out Turn TAM on the plants before the current management but all the past efforts ended up like packaging salt in a basket on water surface.
However, the present Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC, Engineer Mele Kyari, and his management team succeeded in having the listening ears of the presidency for TAM, and impressively that significantly paid off.
With the secured approval and support of the presidency, Kyari formally flagged off the rehabilitation project at the PHRC complex in 2023 and thankfully he changed the narrative and turned around the fortunes of Nigeria in positive direction.
However, the success of bringing the PHRC back to life has excited numerous major stakeholders in the downstream oil and gas sector in no small measure. One of such groups is the organised body of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
Also, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, CCCO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, who was in a jubilant mood, confirmed that November 26, 2024 marks a monumental achievement for Nigeria as the Port Harcourt Refinery officially commences crude oil processing.
“This groundbreaking milestone signifies a new era of energy independence and economic growth for our nation,” Sonoye said.
While reacting to some vituperative criticisms on the spurious claim that the NNPCL instead bought “Cracked C5 petroleum resins” and blended it with other products, including naphtha to sell to the Nigerian public as though the refinery processed it, Soneye set the record straight and said: “Refining and blending are interconnected processes crucial for crude oil processing and optimizing refinery yields, especially when producing Premium Motor Spirit (PMS). PMS is not a single product but a carefully crafted blend of various refinery outputs, including naphtha, reformate, pentane-plus hydrocarbons, and other middle distillates, designed to enhance value and meet consumer needs.
“Blending operations are standard in refineries worldwide, with the process and ratios varying based on factors like crude oil type, refinery configuration, and specific fuel requirements (e.g., octane rating or sulfur content). Don’t be swayed by individuals misusing technical terms they don’t fully understand to spread misinformation or hinder progress. Blending and refining remain essential and sophisticated components of modern fuel production. We are not blending SRG with Napthat. SRG is blended with Crack C5. Yes, it is normal practice to blend SRG with Crack C5.
“Straight-run gasoline blended with cracked C5 refers to a mix of two distinct gasoline components, typically aimed at optimizing fuel quality and meeting market specifications.” SRG is often blended with higher-octane components such as crack C5 to create commercially viable gasoline. C5 is derived from fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) processes, specifically from the lighter fractions of the cracked products. Our FCC is in the New PH refinery, and it is undergoing construction. Blending takes place in the FCC which is normal operation practice. Cracked C5 compensates for the low octane rating of straight-run gasoline, making the blend suitable for modern engines”.
On the issue of cause of delay on the facility and the unprecedented breakthrough which was recorded, the NNPCL image maker made some lucid clarifications and said:
“Execution of a revamp project in a brown field environment has a greater technical difficulty which is multiple times higher than in a green field. Unknown and unforeseen technical challenges impeded the commissioning and startup multiple times and took us back several weeks hence schedule delays.
“We partnered with and drew on the wealth of experience from an external party who had carried out commissioning and startup, currently operating and maintaining several refineries. The injection of these additional, highly skilled and competent resources was the game changer. We also identified and mobilised retired NNPC staff who had worked in the refineries, their experience and expertise were useful. We carried out a detailed technical review to understand and identify areas of vulnerabilities; we put a system in place to eliminate and address the bad actors systematically.”
Nigerians are really in for a good time as the refinery boosted by the current development is set to return to its days of glory and times when it contributed massively to the petroleum product pool of the country. This will no doubt reduce dependency on imported products and reinforce the availability of products locally all year round.
Mele Kyari has no doubt convinced Nigerians that he exemplifies tenacity in holding unto high standards in the midst of national and global challenges in the oil and gas sector. Any leader who sets out to apply the principles of accountability in Nigeria of today would always make a significant impact, especially in a sector and a corporation that has had a history of complexities and opacity. This is what has made Kyari to stand out in the long line of past leadership of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (as it then was). Indeed, with committed and patriotic Nigerians like Kyari Nigeria shall truly be great again in all fronts.
Osun, an electrical engineer, sent this piece from Ekiti
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