The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says the old Port Harcourt refinery has not shut down operations.

 

Reports had made rounds that the refinery was nonfunctional months after a rehabilitation exercise.

 

In a statement on Saturday, Femi Soneye, NNPC’s spokesperson, described the reports as “totally false”.

 

“The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has been drawn to reports in a section of the media alleging that the Old Port Harcourt Refinery which was re-streamed two months ago has been shut down,” he said.

 

“We wish to clarify that such reports are totally false as the refinery is fully operational as verified a few days ago by former Group Managing Directors of NNPC.”

 

Soneye said preparation for the day’s loading of petroleum products is currently ongoing.

 

“Members of the public are advised to discountenance such reports as they are the figments of the imagination of those who want to create artificial scarcity and rip-off Nigerians,” he said.

 

On November 26, the old Port Harcourt refinery commenced crude oil processing.

 

The state-owned plant also commenced the loading of petroleum products for trucks.

 

Operating at a 70 percent installed capacity, the national oil company said the refinery had started producing 900,000 litres of kerosene per day and 1.5 million litres per day of diesel.

 

NNPC said 2.1 million litres daily volume of low-pour fuel oil (LPFO) would also be produced at the refinery, adding that additional volumes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) would be refined at the plant.

 

The national oil firm also said the refinery commenced production of daily outputs of straight-run petrol (naphtha), which is blended into 1.4 million litres of petrol.

 

When some Nigerians questioned the blending operations at the old Port Harcourt refinery, Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPC, said it is not a crime to blend petroleum products at the facility.