- Safiu Kehinde
Barely a week after announcing its historical revival, Port Harcourt refinery has reportedly suspended operation amid growing concerns and controversies.
The sudden development has left Nigerians hope dashed having earlier express delight with the announcement of the refinery’s operation on Tuesday.
As against NNPC’s claim that the refinery is 70 percent operational and hoping to extend to 90 percent, a visit by Saturday PUNCH to the refinery on Friday tend to have confirmed the uncertainties and conspiracies surrounding the authenticity of PH refinery’s operation.
Punch revealed that there was no activity on site, as some workers met by newsmen claimed that the refinery was undergoing calibration which might last till next week.
According to reports, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Melee Kyari, inaugurated the new plant at the Area 5 terminal of the refinery on Tuesday. It was claimed that 200 petrol trucks were loading daily from the plant.
Reverse, however, seems to be the case, as no signs of activity was observed at the Port Harcourt Refinery Area 5.
An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the loaded trucks contained “dead stock”.
He said, “Before the refinery was shut down between 2015/2016, we had dead stock left in the tank, including some Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) DPK (kerosene), and Automated Gas Oil (diesel).
“So, these products were in large quantities in stores in those tanks. During the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Old Area 5, those products were evacuated from the tanks for storage.”
However, he noted that the large quantity of refined petrol was “off-spec,” requiring separation from water to obtain the main product in preferred colours.
“But for DPK, it is in large quantity but they have not pushed it from the tank where it was kept after refined ready for commercial purposes.
“So, the product that was loaded was dead stock, that is the old product that was in the system. So, after these dead stocks, they will have to clean the tank, remove all the debris before pumping the new project into that tank, and redye it,” the source said.
The worker highlighted that refineries worldwide should operate electronically, not manually.
“But what they are trying to do at the Port Harcourt Refinery is manual, which cannot match the new digital pumps. Most of the pumps used for the event were refurbished,” he added.
He explained that during Kyari’s visit on Tuesday, seven trucks were prepared for loading, but only five were filled with petrol.
The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Taken Ikpaki, while speaking to journalists during the inauguration of the facility on Tuesday, had expressed optimism.
He stated that more trucks were expected to come into the facility to load products in the coming days.
But rather than more trucks coming into the refinery, the number of trucks has dwindled.
Around 1.30pm when the newsmen visited, he observed that most workers and drivers appeared idle as no machinery was operational.
Nine trucks were seen parked, but the loading bay, numbered from one to 18, was empty and deserted, with some workers lying down.
When asked about the lack of loading activity, a worker in overalls said, “They are de-watering, removing the water under the PMS. Maybe there will be loading after that, but we don’t know what time today.”
Another worker at the loading bay mentioned that ongoing calibration was the reason for the delay.
“They are calibrating the meters,” he said tersely.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that the PMS left in the storage might not be enough to fill five trucks.
A source indicated that calibration would continue until Monday, with the loading of DPK (kerosene) and AGO (diesel) expected to start by then.
Speaking to the Punch, a resident of Alode in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, who simply identified himself as Osaro, said, “After that ceremony with Mele Kyari where they said the refinery had started operation and loading was taking place, what happened afterwards? They continued loading on air, that is on the pages of newspapers and social media.”
When contacted for his reaction on the lack of activities on Friday, the National Public Relations Officer of the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Dr Joseph Obelle, said it was as a result of ongoing calibration.
Obelle, the PETROAN spokesman, said, “They are calibrating the loading pumps. They will be done today.”
Meanwhile, effort to reach the NNPC spokesperson, Femi Soneye, proved abortive.