The Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria has denied lifting Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) from the Port Harcourt Refining Company, managed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Rivers State.

Based on its latest denial, PETROAN may have misled Nigerians when it said in February that its members were lifting PMS from the Port Harcourt refinery.

Four months after claiming that its members had started buying petrol from the revamped facility, the National President of the association, Billy Gillis-Harry, appeared on national television to say his members lifted only diesel and kerosene from the Port Harcourt refinery.

This claim was in sharp contrast with the defence put up by PETROAN to make Nigerians believe that the refinery was producing petrol sometime in February.

On February 1, PETROAN’s spokesman, Joseph Obele, issued a statement and made the same available to our correspondent, saying, “PETROAN members are now loading petroleum products, including Dual-Purpose Kerosene, Automotive Gas Oil, and Premium Motor Spirit” from the Port Harcourt refinery.

Obele said the Port Harcourt refinery was already selling petrol, diesel, and kerosene to retailers while the Warri refinery was supplying only diesel and kerosene. This came after repeated reports cast doubts on the operations of the rehabilitated refinery.

The statement titled, ‘PETROAN’s Appraisal of Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries As Our Members Commence Loading of Products From Both Refineries,’ read in part, “Contrary to previous doubts, the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries are now fully operational, with PETROAN members loading petroleum products, including DPK, AGO, and PMS.

“The resurgence of these refineries has sparked intense competition, which is expected to drive down petroleum prices. As Nigerians advocate for lower PMS prices, it is clear that competition is a crucial factor in triggering price reductions.

“The refineries’ revitalisation has brought numerous benefits, including the eradication of adulterated diesel and kerosene from the market. For years, the absence of functional refineries led to a proliferation of fake petroleum products, posing significant risks to consumers. With the availability of original diesel and kerosene, the demand for fake products has decreased, reducing the risk of explosions and equipment damage.”

However, in a surprising twist, the PETROAN President appeared on a live television programme on Wednesday night to deny ever lifting petrol from the refinery. The clip of the programme was obtained by our correspondent on Friday.

When he was confronted by the host that he and his association were among those who claimed they lifted petrol from the Port Harcourt refinery, Gillis-Harry denied it.

“For the products that we were lifting in NNPC, especially in Port Harcourt refinery, most of them were DPK and AGO. PMS was lifted by NNPC to NNPC trucks and stations, and, of course, we did buy from NNPC stations in our cars. But we did not buy any commercial PMS from NNPC while the process of doing distribution from that depot was going on.

“And we made that very clear. There was no time we said that we were picking PMS from (NNPC) depot,” he denied the earlier claim. Gillis-Harry added that his members were picking PMS from the NNPC through private depots that had partnered with the state-owned energy company.

Our correspondent reports that the PETROAN president’s comments were absolutely different from what the association said to Nigerians in January, when there were speculations about the real status of the rehabilitated NNPC refineries.

PETROAN, once known for its strong support for the NNPC, seemed to have changed its stance after the removal of Mele Kyari as the company’s Group Chief Executive Officer.

Earlier, an April report by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority stated that the Warri refinery had remained shut since January 25, due to safety issues in its Crude Distillation Unit Main Heater, while the Port Harcourt refinery operated at 42 per cent of its capacity.

The Port Harcourt refinery, which resumed operations in November 2024 after gulping $1.5bn in refurbishment costs, was shut down last month for maintenance. But the PETROAN boss said the association supported the NNPC refineries to ensure the success of the turnaround maintenance.

Meanwhile, there had been repeated calls on the Federal Government to privatise the three refineries in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna that are currently under the management of NNPC.