Barely three days after the much-publicized reopening of the Port Harcourt Refinery, operations appear to have been suspended.
According to Punch, workers and residents near the refinery revealed that there was no activity, neither was loading taking place at the facility’s bays.
Although the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) launched the new plant earlier this week, claiming that hundreds of trucks were loading daily, sources revealed that the trucks carried leftover products from storage, not newly refined fuel.
Investigations also revealed that the refinery is undergoing calibration, which will delay operations until the process is complete.
Workers on-site disclosed that the existing products—referred to as “dead stock”—require separation and cleaning before new supplies can be processed.
During a visit, the facility appeared deserted, with idle trucks and inactive machinery.
Sources also disclosed that calibration will continue into next week before major operations, including kerosene and diesel loading, can resume.
When asked about the lack of loading activity, a worker in overalls said, “They are de-watering, removing the water under the PMS. Maybe there will be loading after that, but we don’t know what time today.”
Another one said: “They are calibrating the meters,”
A major source spoke, “Before the refinery was shut down between 2015/2016, we had dead stock left in the tank, including some Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) DPK (kerosene), and Automated Gas Oil (diesel).
“So, these products were in large quantities in stores in those tanks. During the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Old Area 5, those products were evacuated from the tanks for storage.
“But for DPK, it is in large quantity but they have not pushed it from the tank where it was kept after refined ready for commercial purposes.
“So, the product that was loaded was dead stock, that is the old product that was in the system. So, after these dead stocks, they will have to clean the tank, remove all the debris before pumping the new project into that tank, and redye it.
“But what they are trying to do at the Port Harcourt Refinery is manual, which cannot match the new digital pumps. Most of the pumps used for the event were refurbished.”
