P’Harcourt Refinery Halts Operations

There was no activity on the site of Port Harcourt Refining Company on Friday, with some workers claiming that the refinery was undergoing calibration, which might last till next week, Punch reports.

It would be recalled that the Port Harcourt Refinery, which has faced numerous delays and missed deadlines to resume operations, finally resumed operations on Tuesday morning.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Melee Kyari, while inaugurating the new plant at the Area 5 terminal of the refinery on Tuesday, said that 200 petrol trucks were loading daily from the plant.

However, there were reports in some quarters that the trucks were loaded with old products in the storage tanks.

Punch correspondent who visited the Port Harcourt Refinery Area 5, observed no signs of activity.

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the loaded trucks contained “dead stock”.

He said, “Before the refinery was shut down between 2015/2016, we had dead stock left in the tank, including some Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) DPK (kerosene), and Automated Gas Oil (diesel).

“So, these products were in large quantities in stores in those tanks. During the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Old Area 5, those products were evacuated from the tanks for storage.”

However, he noted that the large quantity of refined petrol was “off-spec,” requiring separation from water to obtain the main product in preferred colours.

“But for DPK, it is in large quantity but they have not pushed it from the tank where it was kept after refined ready for commercial purposes.

“So, the product that was loaded was dead stock, that is the old product that was in the system. So, after these dead stocks, they will have to clean the tank, remove all the debris before pumping the new project into that tank, and redye it,” the source said.

The worker highlighted that refineries worldwide should operate electronically, not manually.

“But what they are trying to do at the Port Harcourt Refinery is manual, which cannot match the new digital pumps. Most of the pumps used for the event were refurbished,” he added.

The correspondent, who visited around 1:30 p.m., observed that most workers and drivers appeared idle as no machinery was operational.

“Nine trucks were seen parked, but the loading bay, numbered from one to 18, was empty and deserted, with some workers lying down”, the Punch reports.

When asked about the lack of loading activity, a worker in overalls said, “They are de-watering, removing the water under the PMS. Maybe there will be loading after that, but we don’t know what time today.”

Another worker at the loading bay mentioned that ongoing calibration was the reason for the delay.

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“They are calibrating the meters,” he said tersely.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that the PMS left in the storage might not be enough to fill five trucks.

A source indicated that calibration would continue until Monday, with the loading of DPK (kerosene) and AGO (diesel) expected to start by then.

Speaking to Punch correspondent, a resident of Alode in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, who simply identified himself as Osaro, said, “After that ceremony with Mele Kyari where they said the refinery had started operation and loading was taking place, what happened afterward? They continued loading on air, that is on the pages of newspapers and social media.”

When contacted for his reaction on the lack of activities on Friday, the National Public Relations Officer of the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Dr Joseph Obelle, said it was as a result of ongoing calibration.

Obelle, the PETROAN spokesman, said, “They are calibrating the loading pumps. They will be done today.”
 

Punch