…says official announcement’ll be made soon
Contrary to yesterday’s announcement by the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), that the Port Harcourt refinery will sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol, at N1, 030 per litre, the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNP- CL) has said it has not yet commenced bulk sales or opened its purchase portal, as essential processes are still being finalised. Noting that the products currently being sold originated from the Dangote Refinery, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPC Ltd, Olufemi Soneye, said the products from PHRC are exclusively for its retail stores at this stage. “Our pricing is reviewed and adjusted periodically as necessary to reflect operational realities. We advise the public to disregard any misleading information regarding pricing.
Official announcements will be made if and when price reviews occur”, Soneye said in a statement. PETROAN on pricing The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), had earlier said that the Port Harcourt refinery would sell PMS at N1, 030 per litre, adding that its pricing team is analysing the most favourable price for its members.
This came as the asso- ciation debunked reports making the rounds sug- gesting that the revamped and widely celebrated old Port Harcourt Refinery was a mere blending plant and unproductive.
PETROAN in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Dr. Joseph Obele, said: “Regarding the price, NNPC Retail Ltd has officially announced the PMS price at the Port Harcourt refinery as N1,030 per litre. It was also communicat- ed to PETROAN that the product request portal was open for booking /request. PETROAN strategic pricing team are currently analysing the most favour able price for her members as we are open to patron- ising all the refineries in Nigeria.
“PETROAN also im- plores that NNPC Retail Ltd should further re- duce the price in view of giving Nigerians a bliss- ful Yuletide celebration. PETROAN supports the proposed planned privati- sation of the nation owned refineries in a no instance time in such a manner that is credible and transpar- ent after which the plant should be handed over to a reputable private firm with the financial capability and technical knowledge. Commenting on the state of infrastructure in the refinery complex, the association wrote, “Most worisome as a threat to lives and properties is the ugly condition of the Eleme/ East West road. The road poses a serious threat to Petroleum trucks that will be conveying flammable products from the refinery depots”. PETROAN encourages the Federal Ministry of Works under which the project was awarded to RCC to facilitate the ongo- ing repairs of the road.”
On controversies sur- rounding the old Port Harcourt, PETROAN insisted that the old refinery was currently operating at 70 per cent of its installed ca- pacity, with plans to ramp up to 90 per cent. According to PETROAN, the authenticity of production at the refinery was verified by the Senate Committee on Petroleum Resources under the lead- ership of Sen. S A Kawu Su- maila, in conjunction with stakeholders and members of the host community. “As part of PETROAN’s oversight function as key stakeholders, we have di- rect access to the plant on the authorisation of man- agement and we will encourage whoever is doubt- ing the functional status of the plant to contact NNPC management for facility tour rather than spreading misleading information. “It is more important to state here that the func- tional plant at operation is the old refinery with the capacity of 60,000 barrels per day, while the new Port Harcourt Refinery with the capacity of 200,000 barrels per day is still under re- habilitation which is due to commence production soon as announced by the management of NNPCL. “Both refineries are with- in the same complex at Ale- sa Eleme in Rivers State.
The old Port Harcourt re- finery which was built in 1965 stopped production over 21 years ago, while the new Port Harcourt refinery stopped production in the year 2019. ”The senate Committee was on a fact-finding tour on Thursday 28th Novem- ber 2024 at the Port Har- court refinery and depot at Alesa Eleme to see things themselves. The senate committee saw the plant functional and Petroleum trucks loading at the Port Harcourt Refinery depot. ”It is worth noting that PETROAN leadership led by the National President, Dr. Billy Harry were in attendance at the senate committee visitation at the Port Harcourt refinery to welcome the committee and express PETROAN’S willingness to commence loading at the Port Har- court Refinery.” Speaking further, PETROAN noted that rather than speculate false nar- ratives and generate controversies, the appropriate thing expected of Nigerians was to commend management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited led by Engr. Mele Kyari, for reviving a plant that has been moribund, deplorable and dormant for over 21 years. “PETROAN hereby ap- praises the scorecard of Engr. Mele Kyari as Excel- lent performance for reviv- ing a refinery plant which was abandoned for 21 years when he wasn’t the NNPC boss. “PETROAN is optimis- tic that the Nigeria vision is achievable and hereby calls on Nigerians to be patriotic by believing in the renewed hope agenda of Mr Presi- dent. Nigeria will work again.”
Competition will force down price – PENGASSAN General Secretary of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Lumumba Igho- temu Okugbawa, has urged Nigerians to be patient over the higher price of fuel from Port Harcourt Refinery Company. In an interview with Saturday Telegraph, he assured that competition will force down the price, adding that the major focus for now should be to have domestic refining capabili- ty, which he noted would reduce demand of dollars for importation and so will firm up the nation’s ex- change rate to the dollars.
He said: “Nigerians should just be patient. When the law of demand and supply comes in, it (pump price) will come down. I know that in Ni- geria nothing is straightfor- ward by the law of demand and supply will play out. “If petrol stations have products and they stay for three weeks without sales, will they not reduce the price? The critical issue for now is that we should have local production and avoid importation. When you im- port, the pressure is on your naira. When you locally produce, that pressure is off and tomorrow your naira might be stronger.
That is the thing. “There could be a lot of reasons why its price is higher, we do not know. It is the small one, the 60,000 barrel per day ca- pacity that is working. That 150,000 bpd capacity is not working yet. When it will work, production costs might come down. The other refineries will come up. What we want now is local production. “We need dollars to im- port. If we do not import, we save our dollars and we do not need to look for dollars and put pressure on our naira. So these two things are the things that will take time and with time, everything will go out on itself. Maybe it is the cost of their produc- tion that is why that of the Port Harcourt refinery is higher.”
Former Group Managing Director of the now defunct Nigerian Nation- al Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Chief Chamberlain Oruwari Oyibo, in an interview with Saturday Telegraph said he could not explain why the price of Port Harcourt refinery is higher. He said: “I do not know. Let me not say what I do not know. I only read it myself and I have not tried to find out why, whether it is the cost of refining? I do not know how much it is costing the Port Harcourt refinery to refine now. Dangote is a big refinery of 650,000 barrels per day capacity.
Information is that Port Harcourt refinery is producing about 60 per cent capacity. “If the small refinery of Port Harcourt refinery which is 60,000 barrels per day is not fully in production. I do not know, the unit price may be different. It just started and I do not know their cost price.” NNPCL disowns self-ac- claimed ‘Community Person’ The management of the Nigerian National Pe- troleum Company Lim- ited (NNPC Ltd) has de- bunked as false, a claim that the much publicised re-streaming of the Port Harcourt and truck-out of premium motor spirit (pet- rol) which was held earlier in the week. Chief Corporate Com- munications Officer, NNPC Ltd, Mr. Olufemi O. Soneye, in a statement yesterday, listed reasons to debunk the man’s claims. The statement read: “The attention of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has been drawn to a video clip of one (name withheld), a self-acclaimed “community person” who alleged that the much pub- licised restreaming of the Port Harcourt and truckout of premium motor spirit (petrol) which held earlier in the week were all false. “We would have not bothered to reply to him considering that all his assertions were a crass dis- play of ignorance which is consistent with his claim of being a ‘community per- son’ who does not neces- sarily have any knowledge about the workings of the Port Harcourt Refinery. “But the need to set the records straight and not to mislead the public has constrained us to clarify as follows: “He claimed that the Old Port Harcourt Refin- ery was only operating skeletally and was not processing PMS. His proof was that the PMS truck-out was done at the gantry of the New Port Harcourt Re- finery as against the gantry of the Old Port Harcourt Refinery.
