The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Monday that the Port Harcourt refinery being rehabilitated for $1.5 billion will start refining gasoline (petrol) within 18 months of the project.
The Group Managing Director (GMD), NNPC, Mele Kyari, who said this in Abuja on Monday, clarified that the approved fund was for complete rehabilitation and not turnaround maintenance.
According to a report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Kyari said: “During rehabilitation, by the 18th month, part of this plant will begin to produce particularly the gasoline plants.
“What it means in a technical sense is that in 18 months, we will see production coming from that plant; we will follow it plant by plant until we are completely done,” Kyari said.
The NNPC GMD also said that the process of rehabilitation started about 10 years ago but was slowed down due to a number of mistakes and interferences.
He was hopeful the refinery would work optimally for the next 15 years after the rehabilitation.
