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After several postponements, the Port Harcourt refinery has finally commenced fuel production.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited confirmed this to our correspondent on Tuesday.
NNPC spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, said the loading of trucks would start today.
“Port Harcourt Refinery begins production. Truck loading starts today, Tuesday,” Soneye told our correspondent.
In another update on X, the NNPC said: “NNPC Ltd Delivers Port Harcourt Refinery as plant begins truckout of products today, Tuesday 26th November 2024 at 1.45 pm.
“Watch the commissioning and trucking out event LIVE.”
It was learnt that the refinery would start with 60,000 barrels capacity per day, releasing Premium Motor Spirit, diesel, and others into the Nigerian market.
The Port Harcourt Refinery would be the second petrol-producing refinery after the Dangote Refinery commenced PMS production in September.
It is one of the three owned by the Federal Government and managed by the NNPC.
Nigerians have been hopeful that the cost of fuel could crash if the country refines its crude and ends the import of refined products.
The refinery, situated in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region, has been in operation since 1965, but later became moribund for several years.
In March 2021, the Nigerian government acquired a $1.5bn loan for the renovation and modernisation of the refinery.
Promises made to Nigerians by the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC about the refinery failed seven times before now.
Barely two months after the September completion deadline failed, the NNPC explained last week why it could not deliver the much-awaited Port Harcourt refinery at the scheduled time.
