Ben Eguzozie, in Port Harcourt
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has denied reports of an explosion at the 210,000 barrels per day (bad) Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) in Alesa Eleme, Rivers State.
The company clarified that what occurred was a flare incident, which has since been fully contained.
“There is no danger or health hazard to staff, the surrounding communities, or the environment,” the national oil company (NOC) explained in a statement issued in its headquarters Abuja FCT.
According to Olufemi Soneye, chief corporate communications officer at NNPC Ltd, the company urged the media and the public to disregard any reports suggesting an explosion at the refinery, as they are entirely false.
Port Harcourt Refining Company, with a nameplate capacity of 210,000 bpd is Nigeria’s first and oldest petroleum refinery. It is part of the country’s 445,000 bpd total national refining capacity. Much of it (along side Warri and Kaduna) has been comatose for more than two decades due to lack of or non-existing corporate governance.
Since 2022 or thereabouts, the refining outfit missed several claims of resumption of activities, not even with a federal government much-talked-about $1.5bn rehabilitation expenditure.
Nigeria, Africa’s top oil producer, operates the world’s most opaque petroleum system, with a middle-to-top OPEC+ production quota, but ending up importing all of its petroleum products. Till date the West African nation is the only OPEC+ member that imports its petroleum products for domestic consumption.
