The Port Harcourt Refinery, operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) through its subsidiary, the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC), has officially resumed production following extensive rehabilitation and modernization efforts.
Located in Alesa, Eleme, in Port Harcourt, the refinery boasts a processing capacity of 210,000 barrels per day (bpd) and consists of two main units built in 1965 and 1989, respectively. According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the older plant has a refining capacity of 60,000 bpd, while the newer unit handles up to 150,000 bpd.
In March 2021, the Nigerian government, under then-President Muhammadu Buhari, secured a $1.5 billion loan to support the rehabilitation project. This contract was awarded to Tecnimont S.P.A, an Italian company and subsidiary of the Maire Tecnimont Group, to restore and upgrade the facility’s operations.
The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd., Malam Mele Kyari, recently led a team to inspect the refinery and oversee the initial dispatch of petroleum products from the revitalized facility, marking a key milestone in Nigeria’s quest to boost its local refining capacity and reduce dependency on imported petroleum products.
