Refinery: Avoid malicious attacks on progress, NNPCL urges Nigerians

Following the resumption of operations at the Port Harcourt refinery, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on Tuesday urged Nigerians to avoid malicious attacks on clear progress, saying such will only undermine the significant strides the country has made.

The NNPCL said this in response to claims by certain individuals that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery is not producing products.

In a statement, Olufemi Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of NNPC Ltd, said the 60,000 barrels-per-day Old Port Harcourt Refinery operates at 70 per cent of its installed capacity, with plans to ramp up to 90 per cent.

He also said the refinery produces 900,000 litres of Kerosene, 1.5 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO or Diesel), 2.1 million litres of Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) and additional volumes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

Soneye pointed out that the refinery incorporates crack C5, a blending component from a sister company, Indorama Petrochemicals (formerly Eleme Petrochemicals), to produce gasoline that meets the required specifications.

Blending is a standard practice in refineries globally, as no single unit can produce gasoline that fully complies with any country’s standards without such processes, he further stated.

He also revealed substantial progress on the New Port Harcourt Refinery, saying it will begin operations soon without prior announcements.