Petroleum product entrepreneurs have blamed the Nigerian Nationwide Petroleum Firm Restricted (NNPC) for the continual shutdown of the Port Harcourt Refining Firm (PHRC), which has remained shut for 79 days following scheduled upkeep that started on Might 24, 2025.
Initially slated for a 30-day restore interval, the refinery’s extended closure has sparked important financial hardship amongst petroleum entrepreneurs and bulk retailers who rely on its operations.
The NNPC Initiated the shutdown for deliberate upkeep and a sustainability evaluation aimed toward bettering the refinery’s long-term effectivity and efficiency.
Nevertheless, entrepreneurs have blamed delays in restarting the refinery and alleged non-mobilisation of contractors for the prolonged downtime, which now exceeds two and a half months.
Talking underneath the auspices of the Petroleum Retail House owners Affiliation of Nigeria (PETROAN), the entrepreneurs decried the sluggish tempo of rehabilitation work on the Port Harcourt Refinery.
Talking to newsmen shortly after a go to to the refinery, the PETROAN Jap zonal chairman, Chief Sunny Nkpe, expressed concern that the present group chief government officer of NNPCL, Engineer Bashir Bayo Ojulari, had not but visited the Port Harcourt Refinery bodily inside 4 months in workplace.
Nkpe acknowledged that Ojulari’s motion had indicated a scarcity of ardour for the Port Harcourt Refinery’s performance.
He mentioned he would journey to Abuja to inform different stakeholders and mobilise them on the following line of motion as agreed within the stakeholders’ discussion board.
The PETROAN zonal chairman mentioned, “I’m travelling to Abuja to inform different stakeholders and mobilise them on the following line of motion as agreed within the stakeholders’ discussion board. The contractors lamented that they’ve been owed for over 12 months with out funding.”
Nkpe emphasised that the graduation of manufacturing on the Port Harcourt refinery would stabilise the value of petroleum merchandise and scale back the dominance of personal refineries.
He mentioned, “The Port Harcourt refinery is vital to the availability chain distribution of petroleum merchandise throughout Nigeria, supplying to main cities like Aba, Enugu, Makurdi, and different key states.
The zonal chairman, subsequently, referred to as on the GCEO of NNPC to provide the Port Harcourt refinery prime precedence consideration.
He additionally referred to as on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to direct fast motion to revive the Port Harcourt Refinery as such pointless delays seem come from vested pursuits aspiring to sabotage President Tinubu’s imaginative and prescient.
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