We reduced operations to facilitate upgrade, says PH refinery

We reduced operations to facilitate upgrade, says PH refinery

 The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC) says the refinery
reduced operations to accommodate facility improvements.

 

Reports had suggested that the refinery stopped loading
petroleum products at its gantry.

 

Speaking to journalists on December 1 during a tour of the
refinery, Moyi Maidunama, executive director of operations at Nigerian Pipeline
and Storage Company Limited (NPSC), said the refinery had not halted
operations.

 

“We are evacuating the refined products from the refinery
and this is obviously going to be a continuous process. We have done a couple
of trucks today and intend to do many more today,” he said.

 

“So, the operations were not halted. It was obviously
reduced due to some improvements that we needed to make.

 

“We are managing the process with the number of trucks
available today, using a few loading arms for evacuation. This should be
resolved soon.”

 

With several trucks loading refined products, Maidunama
assured that product distribution is ongoing and the process will continue
unhinged.

 

On his part, Molokwuu Joel, terminal manager of Port
Harcourt depot, said the facility had commenced the distribution of products,
including premium motor spirit (petrol), kerosene, and diesel.

 

He, however, expressed concerns over the low turnout of
tanker drivers.

 

“We have our loading arms operational and we have been
begging them (petroleum marketers) to come in since yesterday but because today
is weekend that is why they have not turned up. If you give us 100 trucks today
we will evacuate them in less than 5 hours,” he said.

 

“So it is not our problem if there are no loading trucks, it
is the tanker drivers’ problem. We have been begging them since yesterday to
come around and take the products but they didn’t turn up, it was just this
morning after pleading with them that they came.”

 

Joel said although the facility has 11 working loading bays,
only three are being used at the moment because of their high efficiency.

 

Each bay, he said, can load three trucks in 15 minutes.

 

‘PH REFINERY HAS
UNDERGONE SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT’

 

Ibrahim Onoja, the managing director of PHRC, said the
refinery has undergone significant improvements to increase efficiency and
dependability.

 

“The plant is running, and we are trucking out our products.
We’ve carried out a massive revamp, replacing most of the equipment, including
pumps instrumentation, and cables. What we’ve done here is a significant
upgrade of the facility,” Onoja said.

 

On November 26, the Port Harcourt refinery commenced crude
oil processing after several years of being moribund.

 

The state-owned refinery also commenced the loading of
petroleum products for trucks.

 

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said
the refinery is currently operating at 70 percent of its installed capacity,
adding that it intends to increase operations to 90 percent.

Source: We reduced operations to facilitate upgrade, says PH refinery

 - NigerianEye
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