John Erinne, an energy consultant and former president of the Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers, has expressed doubt over the Port Harcourt Refinery’s immediate return to regular operation after Christmas.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, had on Thursday announced the completion of the rehabilitation of the refinery, disclosing that the facility would resume production of petroleum products after Christmas.
He also disclosed that the Phase One of the refinery achieved mechanical completion and flare startup on December 20.
But speaking on the development on Channels TV on Friday, Erinne explained that commissioning is complex and time-consuming.
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He explained that thoroughly testing and verifying every piece of equipment, ensuring its functionality as designed, could take up to three months.
He said, “Commissioning means that you have completed the facility now you want to take it through the process of being able to perform the tasks you have designed and constructed it for.
“So you have to go through a gradual process of tasting, verifying, checking, ensuring every piece of equipment, every item that is installed is doing what is expected to do and that ultimately what you are going to get at the end of the process is what it is expected to be.
“Commissioning again broadly can be in two phases. You have pre-commissioning checks and the final commissioning, and process like that could take a couple of months. It is not likely to take days, it could take a month, two months perhaps up to three months.
“From the government announcement I can say that the refinery is ready for commissioning not necessarily ready to start regular operations.
“I can say for certain that we can not expect to see regular products from Port Harcourt refinery until sometime in the first quarter of next year, that would be correct.”
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