Page 8 - DMEA Week 27 2022
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DMEA REFINING DMEA
Sylva: Port Harcourt could
resume refining by year-end
AFRICA NIGERIAN Minister of State for Petroleum as Area 5, and a newer unit built in 1989 capable
Resources Timipre Sylva said this week that the of processing 150,000 bpd of crude. It has been
country’s largest state-owned refinery could offline since 2019 amid reports that no compre-
resume processing crude by the end of the year hensive turnaround maintenance (TAM) had
as overhaul work continues. been carried out for as long as 40 years.
Work is ongoing to rehabilitate the Port Har- Having secured a $1bn loan from Cairo-based
court Refining Complex (PHRC) as the Nigerian African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)
National Petroleum Corp. (NNPC) Ltd seeks to in February 2021, the Nigerian government
resume operations at the plant that has a theo- awarded a $1.5bn contract to Italy’s Maire Tec-
retical nameplate capacity of 210,000 barrels per nimont two months later covering the engineer-
day (bpd). ing, procurement and construction (EPC) work
“By the end of this year the old Port Har- to revive the refinery.
court refinery will start work and also the The original plan was to achieve 90% of its
[650,000 bpd] Dangote refinery is expected to nameplate capacity by 2023, with the second and
be on stream by January next year,” he said. Sylva third phases six and 26 months later. The Italian
added: “So we will get to the situation that Nige- company, with compatriot supermajor Eni as
ria will be fully supplied with fuel and scarcity technical advisor, had carried out a $50mn, six-
will be a thing of the past.” month ‘integrity check’, including equipment
The Dangote plant is seen coming on stream inspection and “relevant engineering and plan-
at a reduced capacity of 540,000 bpd. ning activities” in 2019.
In April, the minister said that the first phase Once work at PHRC is complete, rehabili-
of repairs should be completed in early 2023, tation work will begin on NNPC’s facilities at
offering a figure of 60,000 bpd by April. PHRC Warri and Kaduna, which have capacities of
comprises a 60,000 bpd unit built in 1965, known 125,000 bpd and 110,000 bpd respectively.
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 27 07•July•2022
