The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has announced a partnership with African Refinery Port Harcourt Limited (ARPHL) to construct a new 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery within the existing Port Harcourt Refinery and Petrochemical Complex in Rivers State. The announcement was made via NNPC's X handle, noting that NNPC’s Executive Director, Downstream, Dapo Segun, represented the company in the signing.
ARPHL, created specifically for this project, described the initiative as part of a broader strategy outlined by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources in 2016, which involved a call for proposals to augment Nigeria’s refining capacity by integrating brownfield refineries into existing sites at Kaduna, Port Harcourt, and Warri.
After a competitive bidding process involving twelve proposals, ARPHL was selected to implement the Port Harcourt co-location project due to its comprehensive proposal. While the financial details remain undisclosed, the company highlighted the advantages of the site, including direct crude supply from NNPC and access to shared services like security and utilities.
This new deal comes amid critiques concerning the delayed operationalization of the refurbished Port Harcourt refinery, which despite the completion of its first rehabilitation phase at a cost of $1.5 billion sourced from Afreximbank, has yet to commence operations.
NNPC emphasized that this new agreement underscores its commitment to enhancing domestic refining capacity, which will cater to local and international petroleum product demand and generate employment opportunities within Nigeria.
Concurrently, Abuja and surrounding areas are experiencing severe fuel shortages leading to exorbitant prices and long queues at filling stations. The crisis, attributed to logistical issues by the NNPC, has also affected commuters in neighboring Nasarawa and Niger states, with reports of fuel prices reaching as high as N1,000 per liter on the black market.
In response, the NNPC assured the public that the supply issues have been addressed and urged against panic buying, reinforcing that petroleum product prices will remain stable. Olufemi Soneye, NNPC’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, stated that there is adequate fuel supply within the country to meet demand.
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