The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has disclosed that there is no going back on the December timeline for the mechanical completion of the Port Harcourt Refinery Company.
According to the Nation, this was made known by the NNPC Chief Communications Officer Olufemi Soneye on Sunday.
He said, “We have said from time that by the end of December, the mechanical completion of the refinery will be completed. Yes, we are still maintaining that. Nothing has changed.”
Soneye had on November 6, 2023, given the assurance that the NNPCL would complete the rehabilitation in December.
He expressed confidence that due to the assurance the contractors gave the oil giant, nothing had so far shifted the completion date.
Speaking further, he said, “What they (contractors) said is that all things working well, the refineries will be working in December and January.
“That is what has been there and that is what the contractors have said. And we are working on that timeline.
“And as NNPC, we are going around on every milestone we are pushing out information. So, we are working on that December/January.
“You know I am not the contractor, my own is to report.
“The assurance we have is that December/January, the refineries will be working.
“And nothing has happened as of now to change that or to move it forward so we are on course.
“If anything changes, I will defer to you that this is going to happen. But in terms of the timeline, the timeline is still on course.”
Inspecting the rehabilitation,Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil) Heineken Lokpobiri said that the NNPCL should be accountable if the December end timeline was not met.
The rehabilitation of the 110,000 barrels per day Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited is expected to be completed between October and December 2024. The work was awarded last February to a South Korean firm, Daewoo E&C at $740.6 million.
