Falana Queries Mele Kyari on Why Port Harcourt Refinery is Only Blending 60,000 Barrels, Alleged Diversion of $2.9 Billion Earmarked for Repair
Falana Queries NNPCL Managing Director, Mele Kyari, on Port-Harcourt Refinery and Alleged Diversion of $2.9 Billion Earmarked for Repairs.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, has challenged the Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, to explain to Nigerians how $2.9 billion meant for the smooth takeoff of the country’s three refineries was spent.
Falana also questioned why the Port-Harcourt refinery is only blending 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day, while the 150,000 bpd capacity is abandoned, as well as the Warri and Kaduna refineries.
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The fiery human rights lawyer spoke on Wednesday in Lagos State at the commissioning of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) Tower.
President Bola Tinubu inaugurated the newly constructed seven-storey NUPENG building situated at Jibowu Street, Lagos, which stands as the tallest labour union office building in Nigeria, with multiple power sources – the national grid, generating plant, and solar panel.
Apart from Falana, the event attracted other dignitaries and key players in the oil and gas industry, and labour, including Joe Ajaero, president of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Festus Osifo, president of Trade Union Congress (TUC), and Williams Akporeha, NUPENG president.
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“I challenge NUPENG and PENGASSAN to tell Nigerians the actual state of the refineries. Only 60,000 barrels per day are being blended while NNPCL is silent on the remaining 150,000 bpd as well as on the Warri and Kaduna refineries,” Falana said in his remarks.
“NNPCL has not explained to Nigerians why the $2.9 billion earmarked for the refineries has been diverted,” Falana added.
In his reply at the occasion, the NNPCL MD, who has come under scrutiny over the abysmal state of the refineries, “assured” Falana and others that the Port-Harcourt refinery was functioning.
It was reported that the Port-Harcourt refinery shut down operation “at the moment” with only its non-petroleum unit running, which is the Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).
The CDU produces naphtha, kerosene, and diesel but cannot produce the component needed for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, top sources at the refinery disclosed.
Reports have been monitoring developments at the refinery since the NNPCL initially claimed the refinery was up and trucking out PMS to the Nigerian public.
Reports indicated that only the old section of the Port-Harcourt refinery was working and it was blending “Crack C5 with the Naphtha” and trucking it out as Premium Motor Spirit, which some staff warned would have an “effect” on vehicles.
Top sources clarified that the NNPCL came up with the idea of blending Crack C5 with the Naphtha from the primary units because the secondary units are not ready yet.
The sources said that though blending is a standard practice and that PMS is a blend of products, “the blended products are reformate. Gasoline is produced from the secondary units of the process plant. These secondary units are yet to be commissioned.”
Giving an update on Saturday, a top official said only the CDU was running at the moment and could turn out only naphtha, kerosene, and diesel.
“The Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) is still running but the operation of the depot is shut down at the moment. The CDU produces naphtha, diesel, and kerosene but cannot produce the component for the production of PMS,” the source revealed.
“All these products cannot serve the masses as the production of these products is in small quantities even if the plant runs at 100% throughput. The processing plant of 150,000 bpd capacity will commence operations in 2026; that is if money is made readily available to meet the timelines because at the moment the project has exceeded $2 billion.”
It was confirmed that only the old Port Harcourt Refinery in Rivers State is working and that the refinery is not trucking out PMS but blended gasoline.
The NNPCL’s Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, in a statement, said that the old Port Harcourt Refinery is currently operating at 70% of its installed capacity, and that it produces Straight-Run Gasoline (Naphtha), blended into 1.4 million liters of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, daily.
