The Port Harcourt Refining Company’s (PHRC) Area 5 Plant has had the mechanical completion of the restoration work completed, as promised by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC, Ltd.
Olufemi O. Soneye, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPCL, made this announcement on Thursday.
Rehabilitation work has been ongoing at the Refinery for over two years and the NNPC Ltd. had pledged to complete Phase One of the project (mechanical completion and flare start-up) of Old Port Harcourt Refinery (Area 5) by 31st December 2023.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the rehabilitation project, which also coincided with the 15th Refineries’ Rehabilitation Steering Committee Meeting, the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd., Mele Kyari, said as of December 15th, 2023, 84.4% of Area 5 Plant, a key component of the Refinery, and 77.4% of the entire rehabilitation project have been completed.
“In our quest to ensure that this refinery is re-streamed to continue to deliver value to Nigerians, we made a promise that we will reach a mechanical completion of phase one of the rehabilitation project by the end of December and get the other plants running in 2024. Today, we have kept those commitments,” Mr Kyari stated.
The GCEO commended the NNPC Ltd.’s staff and the EPCIC contractors for doing a great job in ensuring that the refinery achieved that significant milestone.
In his remarks, the Chairman of NNPC Ltd Board, Pius Akinyelure described the milestone as “historic”, stressing that the board was proud of the staff and management of the refinery.
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“We are just starting. We want to be at the highest level of production so that we will keep the prices of petroleum prices in the country stable in order to give comfort to our people and generate more revenue for our country,” Akinyelure noted.
Also speaking, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the milestone is another landmark of the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR.
He thanked Nigerians for their patience and the trust they have in NNPC Ltd.’s ability to deliver on this huge project.
In his address, the Minister of State for Petroleum (Gas), Ekperikpe Ekpo, said re-streaming the Refinery will herald a good omen for the nation’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, industry, as LPG, also known as cooking gas, is a major bye-product of the Refinery.
Speaking at the same event was Fabio Del Cioppo, Managing Director of Tecnimont Nig. Ltd., one of the EPC Contractors for the Rehabilitation Project, who stated that his organization is still dedicated to carrying out the obligations of the contract.
The $1.5 billion PHRC restoration project is an example of an Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation, and Commissioning (EPCIC) project. Engineering, procurement, construction, and installation for Area 5 are all finished. The Construction and Installation phases are concluded with the mechanical completion.
Significantly, the accomplishment of this milestone was made possible by an exceptional record in the areas of Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE), which included over 9.5 million manhours with no Lost Time Injury (LTI).
