Mele Kyari, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has reiterated that the Port Harcourt Refinery is scheduled to become operational and start production in early August.
As previously reported, Mele Kyari had earlier promised that the Port Harcourt refinery would become functional and start producing refined petroleum products within two weeks, following a meeting with the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Turnaround Maintenance of the country’s four refineries on March 14, 2024.
However, that deadline was not met and the refinery failed to deliver on that promise.
This time around he assured the Senate Committee on Finance chaired by Senator Sani Musa that “I don’t have any confirmation at this moment, so that nobody quotes me and says, oh, you keep lying. No, we’re not lying to you, Mr. President. This is a technical process.
“Yes, I’m aware that there are several comments in the public space around refining business and domestic production, including production that will come from the commissioned Dangote refinery. Yes, this country, as we have said, will be a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of this year.
“We’re very optimistic that by December this country will be a net exporter. That means a combination of production coming from us, and also from Dangote refinery and other smaller producing companies that we know are in line to do this.
“So I can confirm to you, Mr. Chairman, that by the end of the year, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum products.
“And specific to NNPC refinery. As you recall, and we have spoken to a number of your committees, that it is impossible to have the Kaduna refinery come to operation before December, it will get to December. Both Warri and Kaduna.
“Let me explain this very clearly. We did have mechanical completion of the porthacourt refinery, which means that every technical work that is required to get the refinery on to work has been completed. This is what we announced December last year, if you recall.
“Once you are mechanically completed for an existing refinery, even for new ones, there are a number of technical steps that you have to take when you are introducing hydrocarbon into this plant. It is only then that you will see the real challenges of even a new refinery. And I can confirm to you today that we have gone through this.
“We are already introducing hydrocarbon under a hot situation, that’s what we call it. And I’m very sure that latest by early August, the porthacourt refinery will start producing product.
“And of course, the new one will get to December. And Warri will also be in production. I’m very optimistic.
“We do our best of intention. You can put debts on a refinery start-up, but it is when you get to start-up that you see the real challenges, even for a new refinery.
“As you can see, even a new, porthacourt refinery, it really has to take steps and processes to get it to full operationality.
“This is very normal in a refinery operation. So we don’t put hard debts on it because there are things that you are never in control. Otherwise, I can confirm to you that we are taking every step to make sure that it works.
He gave the confirmation that NNPC and the oil and gas industry is very critical in bringing a turnaround in the current economic situation of the country adding that they understand its importance.
“We are taking every step that is practical for us to achieve this.
We have already seen growth in our oil and gas production because of certain actions that Mr. President personally took, and also the very mere truth that we have also declared a war on production activities, and this is painful.
“The combination of these two has now seen us restoring production in our country, and we believe that, as the Honorable Minister has said, we will have a line of sight to the 2 million barrels production and subsequent growth in production.
“Also, we are affirming that NNPCL will keep to its responsibility under the Petroleum Industry Act, which requires that we ensure national energy security when everyone else walks away. And we are confirming also that we have sufficient product supply in our country.
“There is no cause for any alarm today, and we are guaranteeing this supply.”
That’s why the huge challenges that it poses to our resources and, of course, the many multitude of issues that are raising those challenges, including cross-border smuggling and so on, but we are living up to this.
“The respective government institutions are taking their place, they are playing their part, and we are seeing a clear indication of success in this direction, while NNPCL continues to be the enormous predator that continues to supply petroleum products to the industry. But this is a requirement of the law.
“We will continue to do this, and I will give you further details during the executive session. Otherwise, Mr. Chairman, we believe that this company will continue to its responsibility. We are making progress.
“We are returning bundles to shareholders. We are restoring all the confidence that is required on this company to serve its shareholders. We are the owner of the Nigerian population on the basis of the provisions of the law.”
The Chairman of the Committee while responding said having heard from him and the ministers, “It’s about economic growth. It’s about how we can get our policies to work. How we will support Nigerians.
“The National Assembly is very concerned because we are the representatives of the people. And we are obliged to ask what is happening. And this is the reason why such a meeting is very important.
“And we have heard from them. At least they have given us a preamble of the activities going on. On how our economy can get back to track.
“You are all aware of the obstructions our economy have had in the previous years. And it’s not going to be easy that overnight, in 365 days or in one year of the coming administration, things will change. It will be gradual.
“And I believe that Nigerians will persevere. This is the only time we can all come together as Nigerians to give His Excellency the President all the needed support. In order to get us out of all the trouble we have been.
“And you can see the indicators are showing that the economy is doing well. The only thing is that things are a bit difficult because it’s not easy for an inflation that has gone up to go down like that. It takes time.
“There are some indices, there are some indicators that have to work together. It’s not like having positive and negative cables. When you put the two together, you will achieve what you want to achieve.
“But when you say, okay, everything should go negative, it will not work. So we have had negativities in the economy. And now we are trying to bring the positivities to work.”
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, represented by Deputy Governor Muhammad Sani Abdullahi, the current triple threats of surging inflation, volatile foreign exchange rates, and food price inflation will soon subside, as early signs of improvement are already manifesting, indicating a impending downward trend.
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, earlier stated that the 2024 budget has already been put into effect and that discussions with labour leaders regarding the minimum wage are underway, aiming to prevent any additional disruptions to the economy.
