The Minister of State for Petroleum (oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, has said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) should be held accountable in the event that the rehabilitation deadline for the Port Harcourt and Warri crude oil refineries is not met.
He made these remarks while addressing journalists following the ministers’ retreat in Abuja.
During the conversation, he shared insights on the progress of the refinery rehabilitation project and the significance of the December 2023 deadline.
The minister stressed that NNPCL had provided assurances that phase 1 of the rehabilitation work would be successfully completed.
Heineken Lokpobiri believes the remaining phases of the refinery rehabilitation will also be accomplished by the following year.
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He noted the critical importance of enhancing the country’s crude oil production capacity as part of the ongoing efforts to revitalize the Nigerian petroleum industry.
“Yes, the refinery’s rehabilitation, if you remember, was started by the previous administration and as part of the President’s directive. I have gone around all the refineries, and from what they have briefed me, Port Harcourt has three phases.
“So Phase 1 will be ready by the end of this year. I am not the one who is directly in charge of rehabilitation; it is the NNPCL, and they have told me, and I am holding them accountable.
“For the Warri refinery, they said Phase 1 will be ready by the end of the year. Phases 2 and 3 in Port Harcourt will be ready next year, and the whole Kaduna refinery will be ready by the end of next year.
“That is what they said, and I am holding them accountable for their words. I believe that those refineries, if we can achieve some level of rehabilitation by the end of this year, will also improve our domestic refining capacity.
“That’s why I said unless we produce sufficient quantities, even if the refineries are rehabilitated, there will be no feedstock. So, my challenge is to ramp up production to see how we can feed not only the big refineries but also the modular ones. These are the real employers of labour, and they will do the magic,” he said.
The Minister and NNPCL have repeatedly emphasized that the deadline for the recommencement of operations at Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC) and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) is set for December 2023.