The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has said the real reason the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) shut down Port Harcourt Refinery after spending $1.5 billion on its rehabilitation is incompetence.
The National President of PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, disclosed this on Saturday following NNPCL announcement about the shutdown.
The spokesperson of the state-owned oil firm, Olufemi Soneye, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.
According to him, the shutdown is due to planned maintenance and sustainability assessment scheduled for May 24th, 2025.
However, Soneye did not state when the Refinery would resume operation.
“This scheduled maintenance and sustainability assessment will commence on May 24, 2025.”
Reacting, Gillis-Harry said the shutdown showed the level of insincerity on the part of NNPCL.
“The shutdown of the state-owned refinery showed that the managers of Port Harcourt Refinery are incompetent and insincere all along,” he said.
The shutdown of Port Harcourt Refinery comes amid speculation over its petroleum production capacity after it was resuscitated in November 2024.
Barely four days ago, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association raised an alarm over the delays in the rehabilitation of the 210,000 barrels-per-day Port Harcourt Refinery and the Warri and Kaduna Refineries.
