200 trucks to load petroleum products daily from Port Harcourt Refinery

The Presidency announced on Tuesday that 200 trucks will begin daily loading of petroleum products from the Port Harcourt Refinery.

In a statement on X (formerly Twitter), Sunday Dare, Special Adviser on Public Communications and Orientation to the President, revealed that the refinery’s Old Wing has resumed operations with a capacity to process 60,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

“The Port Harcourt Refinery has two wings. The Old Refinery begins operations today with an installed production capacity of 60,000 barrels per day. Approximately 200 trucks will load products daily from the refinery, renewing hope for Nigeria,” Dare confirmed.

Earlier, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) also announced the refinery’s start of crude oil processing. This development follows several missed deadlines for the facility’s reactivation.

In 2021, the Federal Government approved a $1.5 billion rehabilitation project for the refinery, one of Nigeria’s largest, which had been shut down since 2019. Despite being a major crude oil producer, Nigeria has long depended on fuel imports due to insufficient local refining capacity.

The refinery’s reopening comes in the wake of President Bola Tinubu’s decision in 2023 to end fuel subsidies, which led to a significant increase in petrol prices.